East Carolina rallies past Appalachian State 83-81

Dec 1, 2019, 10:59 am

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Jayden Gardner scored 22 points, Seth LeDay added 18 and his go-ahead put-back with 18 seconds left helped East Carolina rally to beat Appalachian State 83-81 on Friday night.

ECU rallied from as many as 13 points back and closed to 81-80 on Gardner's free throw with 1:08 to play. LeDay made his put-back and Gardner iced it with a free throw after the Mountaineers missed a 3 with five seconds left.

Shawn Williams scored 15 points and K.J. Davis added 10 for the Pirates (5-4), who shot 52 percent to the Mountaineers' 47 percent and made 24 of 33 free throws.

Justin Forrest's layup put the Mountaineers up 19-17 and they led by as many as 10 points. Williams scored 10 points in the final 2:34, but Appalachian State led 42-40 at halftime after shooting 56 percent.

Ronshad Shabazz scored 25 points, including his 1,600th career point to move into seventh place on ECU's all-time scoring list, and Forrest added 24 for Appalachian State (2-5). Tyrell Johnson scored eight points with 13 rebounds and blocked a shot for his 96th career block, moving him into a tie with Isaac Butts for seventh on ECU's all-time block list.