Featuring several new faces, ECU lit up the scoreboard to defeat Division III opponent N.C. Wesleyan, 99-81 in the Pirates’ season opener at Minges Coliseum.

Transfer forward Michel Nzege (18 points, 12 rebounds) and B.J. Tyson (22 points, 7-10 FG, 8-8 FT, 6 rebounds) led the way for ECU in their first games as Pirates.

“Some of these new guys are talented,” said head coach Jeff Lebo after the game. “I thought B.J. Tyson did some great stuff for us in his first time out there. [Florida State transfer] Terry [Whisnant] didn’t shoot it great, but he’s acrobatic out there. Michele Nzege with his motor gave us 18 minutes and double figure rebounds. It was a good team win.”

After trailing 48-27 at the half, the Wesleyan Bishops showed no quit and actually cut the deficit 10 points, 70-60, at the 8:31 mark of the second half. But the better-sized and more athletic Pirates were able to overcome their mistakes and go on a 29-9 run over the next 5:29 that iced the game away.

Lebo mentioned that the main issue for ECU on Friday was ball security.

“We had some turnovers there – pick-sixes – that cost us. You can’t defend those, so that’s something we have to clean up. We had a lot (of turnovers) by our bigger guys,” said Lebo. “Over half of our turnovers came at (the forward) position.”

81 points to a Division III opponent isn’t a desirable statistic, but Friday was about optimism for the Pirates. Two of the Pirates’ main contributors from a season ago didn’t play due to injury: Senior two-guard Paris Roberts-Campbell and junior big man Michael Zangari. Other proven players, Prince Robinson and Caleb White didn’t have monster nights and the new players stepped up as a result.

Marshall Guilmette, who missed last season with a medical redshirt, was impressive in his return to the tune of 14 points on five-for-nine shooting and seven rebounds.

“Marshall was solid out there,” said Lebo. “He played 25 minutes and didn’t look winded.”

The Pirates didn’t shoot well from 3-point land (3-for-16) and still scored 99 points — a sign that the scoring, coming from slashers like B.J. Tyson, Lance Tejada and Caleb White might look a lot different than that of last year’s team, led by sharpshooter Akeem Richmond.

This year, ECU also appears to feature more depth than 2013-14 as nine Pirates receiver 12 or more minutes.

“It’s nice to look down at the minutes and not see 39, 38, 36, 38,” said Lebo. “We had nice balance there.”

ECU returns to action Sunday, taking on UNC Asheville at 2 p.m.