Tulsa kept battling, but East Carolina’s offense never let up, as the Pirates defeated the Golden Hurricane, 41-27, Thursday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, in Greenville, N.C.

East Carolina (4-3, 2-1 AAC) was coming off a 26-19 loss at Tulane the week before.

“I thought the guys didn’t let last week’s loss turn into two losses,” East Carolina head coach Blake Harrell said. “You can certainly do that. You go lose a close game on the road. We just talked about where we’re at, where we want to be and how we’re going to get that. We talked about the process, just going back to focus on us, focus on how we work, how we prepare and getting ready for our opponent.”

East Carolina’s duo of quarterback Katin Houser and wide receiver Anthony Smith combined on a pair of long touchdown passes in the first half to spark the Pirates offense.

Tulsa (2-5, 0-4 AAC) started Baylor Hayes at quarterback in place of Kirk Frances, and Hayes connected with a pair of receivers for touchdowns in the first half. The first scoring strike came in the first quarter to Brady Foley from 38 yards out. The second touchdown pass was thrown to Zion Booker on a four-yard play.

ECU led Tulsa 24-14 at halftime.

In the third quarter, East Carolina extended their lead when London Montgomery carried the ball 51 yards for a touchdown, putting the Pirates ahead 31-14.

Tulsa responded with a 46-yard field goal by Seth Morgan at 7:12 remaining in the third quarter, narrowing the deficit to 31-17.

The Golden Hurricane moved closer in the fourth quarter as Stephen Kittleman bolted into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run, making the score 31–24 at 14:47 remaining.

East Carolina responded with a 32-yard field goal extending their lead to 34–24, then with 5:22 remaining, Houser scored on a two-yard quarterback keeper increasing the Pirates’ lead to 41–24.

Tulsa finished the scoring with a 26-yard field goal by Seth Morgan with only 1:49 remaining on the clock.

Tulsa’s Hayes completed 23of-41 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Foley had a career game, catching six passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. Zion Booker caught nine passes for 55 yards and a touchdown, marking his fifth game of the season with five or more receptions and tying a career-high.

For ECU, House finished with 21-of-38 for 300 yards and two touchdown passes, and one rushing touchdown. Montgomery carried the ball 16 times for 125 yards and one touchdown, and Smith finished with four receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

“That’s what it’s supposed to look like,” Harrell said. “The run game is opening up the deep ball. The deep ball is opening up the running game, and Katin is certainly operating at a high level. I did think offensively we started, and we finished.”

Tulsa will host Temple (3-3, 1-1 AAC) at H.A. Chapman Stadium on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.