GREENVILLE, N.C.– Georgia Southern men's basketball (0-5) extended its season-opening losing skid to five after losing to host East Carolina (3-2) 82-64 on Monday.
The Eagles trailed wire-to-wire in the contest, down nine at the first media timeout. A pair of threes by Derrick Harris Jr. made it 25-22 and forced an ECU timeout, but that is as close as the Eagles would make it.
Heading into halftime, Georgia Southern was down 37-29, shooting 41.7 percent overall and 33.3 percent from three-point range, but the hot-shooting Pirates hitting on half of their attempts told the story.
The second half was more of the same. ECU extended its lead to 20, and the Eagles couldn't chip away any further. Eren Banks' first career basket, a three-pointer, cut the deficit to 14 late, as the final eventually was 82-64.
Harris set a new career-best with 17 points, and Jamar Franklin extended his solid start to the season with 16 of his own. The Eagles were heavily outrebounded, as the Pirates had a +12 margin on the boards in the game.
The final game of the TowneBank Holiday Classic will be against Northeastern on Tuesday.