East Carolina pauses basketball activities, postpones two games due to COVID-19

The men's basketball program of the East Carolina Pirates had Wednesday's showdown with the Cincinnati Bearcats postponed and have now had at least two more games temporarily called off because of coronavirus-related complications. 

East Carolina director of athletics Jon Gilbert confirmed via the school's official website that the men's team is pausing activities because of positive COVID-19 test results and subsequent quarantines. As a result, Saturday's game against the Temple Owls and next Wednesday's showdown with the South Florida Bulls have been postponed.

"We were informed last night multiple individuals within our men's basketball program tested positive for COVID-19," Gilbert said in the prepared statement. "The affected individuals are isolated and will receive daily monitoring from ECU Athletics medical staff. The decision was made to postpone our next two games due to the positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals. We will continue to work closely with our medical staff and follow their guidance on how we move forward."

East Carolina remains set to face the Memphis Tigers on Jan. 24 but added that the American Athletic Conference could announce more schedule changes at a later time. The Pirates fell to 7-3 on the season with a 69-63 loss to South Florida last Saturday. 

Head coach Joe Dooley addressed the matter via a Zoom call: