Tulane drops home game to ECU, 82-80

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team scored 50 points in the second half and committed just nine turnovers, but could not hold off East Carolina in an 82-80 American Athletic Conference setback Wednesday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Cameron Reynolds led five Green Wave scorers in double-figures with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists in his sixth 20-point performance of the season, while Ray Ona Embo added 14 points. Caleb Daniels and Samir Sehic each scored 12 points off the bench, as Jordan Cornish chipped in 10 more.

Shawn Williams led all players with 29 points on 9-for-10 shooting, including a perfect 6-for-6 beyond the 3-point arc and made all five free throw attempts. B.J. Tyson added 22 points and Isaac Fleming contributed 18 more for the Pirates.

Tulane (13-12, 4-9 AAC) made just one of its first seven shots from the field, as ECU made four of its first seven to create an 11-3 lead after a pair of Tyson free throws with 14:45 remaining in the first half. The Green Wave would outscore the Pirates, 8-5, over the subsequent four minutes of action, capped by a pair of free throws by Sehic, to cut the deficit to three.

The Wave tied the game at 16 on a 3-pointer by Ona Embo and reclaimed the lead, 19-18, on a trey by Daniels with 8:47 to go. That would be the last time Tulane would lead in the period however, as East Carolina (10-14, 4-9 AAC) pulled in front by as many as seven points inside the final minute before taking a 34-30 lead into halftime.

The Green Wave shot 12-for-30 (.400) from the field, 3-for-16 (.188) from 3-point range and 3-for-5 (.600) at the free throw line in the first half, while the Pirates went 14-for-26 (.538) overall, 4-for-10 (.400) beyond the arc and made their two free throw attempts.

Tulane pushed the pace to start the second half and tied the game at 40 on a two-handed stuff on an inside feed with 16:24 remaining, but East Carolina took back the lead with a four-point play by Williams on its next possession.

The Green Wave drew within one with 15:01 remaining, and despite an Ona Embo layup keeping the deficit at just two, 47-45, ECU made three baskets in a row and scored seven straight points down to the 12:47 mark to increase the advantage to nine when the Wave called timeout.

Tulane pulled back within four, five times during the next seven minutes, the third coming after a pair of free throws by Reynolds made it 66-62 with 7:42 left in the game and the fifth on a 3-pointer by Ona Embo with 5:17 on the clock to make it 71-67. Reynolds followed up with a baseline jumper to cut it to bring the margin to just two, and despite a triple by Tyson at the other end, Daniels punched back with one of his own to make it 74-72 with 3:21 to go.

A pair of Cornish free throws with 2:08 left moved the Wave within one, 76-75, but four points in a row by the Pirates moved the margin back to five with 1:19 to play.

Daniels made a pair of free throws on the next possession, before Reynolds buried a 3-ball with 28 seconds to go to tie the game at 80. Tyson drew a foul and made two free throws to put ECU up two with 2.2 seconds remaining, as Tulane advanced the ball to half court and called timeout with 1.2 seconds left to draw up a final play. Ona Embo got off a deep baseline jumper, but it fell short as time expired.

Tulane remains at home to host Memphis on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.