GREENVILLE — The East Carolina basketball team cruised to an 88-74 victory over in-state rival Charlotte, thanks to a concerted effort in the paint.

The 49ers and first-year head coach Mark Price found themselves completely overpowered under the basket as ECU’s forwards had a field day pulling rebounds over the guard-oriented Charlotte team.

“We knew coming in that this was going to be a tough place to play and a challenge for our young team,” said Price following the loss. “You hope that a team takes you lightly or maybe has an off night a little bit but East Carolina played well and hit shots.”

Michel Nzege anchored the forward play. He poured in a career-high 21 points and six rebounds.

“Our guards and wings, like Caleb (White) and Prince (Williams), the defense is really concerned about them,” Nzege said. “They kind of forget about the bigs down low so it gives us a better chance to score the ball.”

It wasn’t all easy for the Pirates (2-0) in the win. About five minutes into the second half, Charlotte cut through a 10-point ECU lead with tight defense and timely shots. Redshirt junior Braxton Ogbueze hit two big three-pointers to carry the 49ers back into the game, but the scoring was not sustained by Charlotte.

The Pirates made a run 14-2 run after Charlotte tied the game at 51 with 14:14 left in the game. Half of the points during the run came from the free throw line as ECU thrashed down low against a smaller Charlotte team. The 49ers got into foul trouble and put ECU in the bonus with more than 10 minutes left in the half. The run left ECU in the lead, 65-53 with 10:18 left in the game.

“I think (the run started) defensively,” Nzege said. “We knew we had to tighten it up and had to lock up defensively and we just came in with that mindset.”

ECU used a shifting zone defense and started to close out on Charlotte shooters midway through the second half. ECU started another run with 8:05 left in the game. A pair of three pointers from Kentrell Barkley and Caleb White helped lock up a Pirate victory late in the game.

Junior transfer Clarence Williams brought the Minges Coliseum crowd to life with 4:26 left as he picked up a steal from Ogbueze and converted a layup through traffic and earned a trip to the line. The Pirates held a 79-63 lead over the 49ers at the end of the run and the game was all but over with four minutes left.

“They went small on us tonight so we had to kind of go small,” said ECU head coach Jeff Lebo, who earned his 300th career coaching victory with the win. “It was encouraging to see (Clarence Williams) and give him some confidence. He rebounded well, he blocked some shots and he was active.”

After struggling from the field against Grambling, the Pirates forced the ball inside and found better shots, finishing 30-for-53 from the field (56 percent). White led the charge as he scored 10 points in the first half and finished with 20. The junior pulled in five boards and dished out five assists during the win.

Last season, White tended to stay quiet in the first half before finding holes in the defense in the final 20 minutes. This season, however, it’s been a more balanced effort.

“I try to just come in locked in and aggressive,” White said. “I’ve just been trying to come in with the approach to be aggressive throughout the whole game.”

Prince Williams found a breakout performance after struggling during the 2014-15 season. Williams seemed to shake the rust off a little bit against Grambling but had a strong outing against the 49ers last night. The senior scored 15 points and had two assists and did not turn the ball over, which Lebo said was the most encouraging part.

ECU can rest until Friday when it will face California on the road as part of the Las Vegas Invitational.