ECU To Play In The First Savannah Invitational
July 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball
Pirates to play two games at home and two in Savannah as part of the tournament
GREENVILLE, N.C. – East Carolina will face Mercer in the first Savannah Invitational on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016 as the Savannah Sports Council announced the pairings Thursday for the two-day event at the Savannah Civic Center.
The Pirates and Bears will tip-off at 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 25 in the third of four games taking place at the Savannah Civic Center the day after Thanksgiving. Radford will open the day's games against Stetson at noon. Georgia Southern will face Florida A&M at 2:30, culminating with Akron against Air Force at 7:30 p.m.
The winner of the Pirates and Bears will face the winner of the Air Force-Akron contest at 7:30 p.m. the following night, Nov. 26, at the Savannah Civic Center. The loser of each of those two games will square off at 5 p.m.
The Pirates will play a total of four games as part of the Savannah Invitational with their first two games being played inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Matchups for those two games will be announced with the complete 2016-17 schedule later this summer.
East Carolina and Mercer met four times during the 1970s with each team winning two games on its home court, but the regional foes haven't played since 1978.
The Pirates return three of their top four scorers led by junior B.J. Tyson (14.6 ppg), who has been ECU's top point producer each of his first two seasons. Senior Caleb White (12.5 ppg), who is on pace to become the school's fourth all-time leading scorer, is back for his swan song after ranking among The American league leaders in scoring and 3-point shooting each of the previous two years. Sophomore Kentrell Barkley (10.1 ppg) looks to build upon his American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team campaign of 2015-16.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.savannahinvitational.com, at the Civic Center box office or by calling Etix at (912) 651-6556.
