Gardner scores 27 with 13 boards as ECU beats NC A&T 77-57

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) Freshman Jayden Gardner had his fifth double-double of the season and Shawn Williams scored 18 points to help East Carolina beat N.C. A&T 77-57 on Friday night.

Gardner finished with 27 points, on 9-of-14 shooting, and 13 rebounds and Williams tied his career high with six 3-pointers. Seth LeDay and Isaac Fleming scored 13 points apiece for ECU (7-5).

Fleming hit a 3-pointer, made a layup and had a tipin before Williams hit a 3 and LeDay added a layup to make it 12-2 and the Pirates led the rest of the way. Ibrahim Sylla's layup capped a 9-2 spurt that spanned halftime and trimmed NC A&T's deficit to 38-29 but Gardner made 1 of 2 free throws and, after an Aggies miss, Williams hit a 3-pointer to push the lead into double figures for good.

Milik Ganz had 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting for NC A&T (4-9). The rest of the Aggies made just 14 of 44 (32 percent) from the field.