CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- — Lu'Cye Patterson's 16 points helped Charlotte defeat East Carolina 67-52 on Saturday.

Patterson was 7 of 13 shooting (1 for 5 from 3-point range) for the 49ers (14-7, 8-1 American Athletic Conference). Igor Milicic Jr. scored 12 points while shooting 3 of 6 from the field and 5 for 6 from the line, and added 10 rebounds and five blocks. Nik Graves had 11 points and shot 2 for 11 (1 for 5 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. The 49ers picked up their eighth straight victory.

The Pirates (11-12, 4-6) were led by RJ Felton, who recorded 20 points and two steals. Jaden Walker added nine points for East Carolina. In addition, Cyr Malonga finished with six points.

The game was tight going into the half, as Charlotte held a two-point lead, 26-24. Robert Braswell paced his team in scoring through the first half with seven points. Charlotte took the lead with 17:01 left in the game and never looked back. Graves helped their team pull away for the victory with 11 second-half points.

Charlotte's next game is Tuesday against South Florida on the road, and East Carolina visits UTSA on Saturday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.