WICHITA, Kan.  – RJ Felton took four dribbles down the floor and knocked down a game winning three-pointer as time expired to lift East Carolina over Wichita State, 75-72, Saturday night in Charles Koch Arena.

Wichita State (11-7, 1-4) clawed all the way back from a 12-point second half deficit to tie the game late and even in the final seconds only to come up short. With 1:21 remaining and the game tied at 68, East Carolina twice got scores to go back in front by two only to see Wichita State come right back with an answer to tie it.

Trailing by two with 14 seconds left, Corey Washington grabbed a rebound off the front end of a 1-and-1 to give Wichita State a shot at the tie or win. Washington quickly got the ball to Justin Hill who raced down the court and delivered a perfect pass in the lane to Quincy Ballard for an uncontested dunk to tie the game at 72 and only 4.1 seconds left.

With the possibility of overtime approaching, Felton received the inbound pass and immediately delivered the game-winning dagger. Felton entered the game as one of the top scorers in the American, but finished with 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting. C.J. Walker torched the Shockers all night to the tune of 28 points.

Washington had a monster double-double with 19 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while also swiping four steals. Wichita State finished the night plus-16 on the glass (47-31), including a season-high 20 offensive rebounds. Washington had eight of the 20 offensive boards. Quincy Ballard added his fifth double-double behind 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Xavier Bell extended his double figure streak to 10 in a row behind 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Justin Hill scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime, including several key buckets in the second half to lead the comeback charge.

Wichita State committed just nine turnovers on the night, but going 5-for-10 at the free throw line and allowing the Pirates to splash in 11 three-pointers (11-for-23) was the difference in the game. ECU came into the game as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, converting on only 28.1 percent of its attempts on the season. The 11 made triples were a season high and their 47.8 percent was their second highest this season.

The Shockers opened the game on an 11-3 run, but ECU settled in and eventually worked the game back to a 16-16 tie with 11:00 left in the half.

After Wichita State grabbed a 26-22 lead at the 6:24 mark, ECU finished the first half on a 14-7 run to take a 36-33 lead into halftime.

It took the Pirates all of 3:09 to push their lead to 10 to open the second half on back-to-back three-pointers.

At the 15:19 mark, ECU took its largest lead of the night, 50-38. The Shockers answered with an 8-0 run to pull within four not even three minutes later.

Five straight points from Hill finally pulled Wichita State even and still 7:29 to play. Following a timeout, Washington gave the Shockers their first lead since the 3:10 mark of the first half.

That lead lasted all of 14 seconds as Felton promptly drained a trey to push the Pirates back in front by one. That lead was right back to five in the blink of an eye.

A Washington tip-in and a Hill three-pointer tied the game at 68 with 1:21 to go, setting up a frantic final minute.

Up Next
Wichita State heads out on the road for two in a row, beginning with a trip to Memphis to take on the first place Tigers, Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.