GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina rode its best shooting performance of the young season to an 83-71 victory over Canisius Friday night inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The Pirates (2-0) shot 50 percent in the first half and withstood a .483 showing by the Golden Griffins (0-2) in the second stanza to remain unbeaten and clinch their 11th-straight non-conference win.

Tristen Newton and Brandon Suggs paced ECU with 14 points apiece while Tremont Robinson-White, Brandon Johnson and Alanzo Frink added 12, 11 and 11 respectively. Newton, Frink and Johnson also tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven each. Robinson-White dished out six assists to bring his campaign total to 15.

Armon Harried topped the visitors offensively with 22 points and Siem Uijtendaal heated up the second half, knocking down four three-point field goals to finish with 15 points.

In addition to its solid shooting prowess from the field, East Carolina drained 20 of 22 free throw attempts and out-rebounded Canisius by a 45-34 margin. The Golden Griffins were able to slice into what was once a 29-point Pirate second-half advantage by knocking down eight threes in the second half. ECU out-scored Canisius 36-10 in the paint to negate the Golden Griffins’ 20 points off 19 Pirate turnovers.

Vance Jackson drilled a triple just over three minutes into the contest to put East Carolina up 13-6. The Pirates would eventually extend the lead to nine at 25-16 when Robinson-White scored a driving layup and the home side started to pull away from there. A three by Ludgy Debaut got the crowd going as ECU took a 35-22 advantage with 4:36 to play and the margin never dipped below 10 the rest of the half. Robinson-White popped in a pair of free-throw attempts to make it 47-26 heading into intermission. The 21-point lead tied for the largest of head coach Joe Dooley’s tenure in Greenville.

Canisius was ice cold in the first half, shooting just 18.2 percent (6-for-33) while East Carolina hit 18 of 36 attempts from the field. Harried scored a game-high 12 points in the first 20 minutes as Robinson-White paced the Pirates with nine. ECU also registered 13 assists in the initial stanza.

Newton connected on a three just 2:19 into the second half to push the Pirate lead to 20 at 53-33. The Golden Griffins whittled the deficit under 20 a couple of a times, but East Carolina quickly put the advantage back in the 20s as Frink hit two free throws to make it a 64-41 contest. With the Pirates up by as much as 29 with 8:43 to go, Uijtendaal started to find his range from deep and helped the visitors reduce the ECU lead to 14 at the 5:04 mark. East Carolina was able to hang on in the end, closing the night out with the double-digit margin still intact.

Up Next: ECU faces a quick turnaround, hosting Western Carolina Sunday at 4 p.m.