Tulane falls at home to ECU, 81-67

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane men’s basketball team suffered an 81-67 American Athletic Conference home loss to East Carolina on Saturday evening at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Christion Thompson filled the stat sheet with 23 points, nine rebounds, a career-high six assists and a game-high five steals, while K.J. Lawson scored 20 points and made four 3-pointers in his fifth 20-point effort of the season for Tulane (10-13, 2-9 AAC).

The American’s leading scorer, Jayden Gardner led ECU (10-14, 4-7 AAC) with 20 points over eight rebounds.

Tulane jumped out to an early 10-8 lead due in part to three straight baskets, including back-to-back 3s, by Lawson, but ECU took advantage of several empty possessions to rip off a 9-0 scoring run from that point, forcing head coach Ron Hunter to call timeout with 12:55 to go in the first half.

The Green Wave held the Pirates scoreless for more than four minutes, gaining ground and eventually piecing together a 12-4 scoring edge capped by two free throws by Thompson with 6:50 left to give the Wave a 22-21 lead.

East Carolina pulled back in front with six straight points and would not surrender the lead for the remainder of the period, taking a 37-34 advantage into halftime.

Tulane shot 10-for-28 (.357) from the field and made five 3-pointers in the first half, while ECU went 13-for-22 (.591) from the floor and made 9 of 12 (.750) free throws despite 12 turnovers.

The Pirates forced their way into the painted area early and often in the second half while converting on six of their first nine shots to extend their lead to double-digits, 48-38, with 16:19 left.

Trailing 54-44, the Green Wave punched back with triples by Lawson and Kevin Zhang on back-to-back possessions to pull within four with 12 minutes remaining.

Tulane was able to draw within three on two occasions, 56-53, on a trey by Nic Thomas and again, 58-55, on a Thompson basket in the paint with 9:12 remaining, but the Pirates had responses to each to remain in front.

The Green Wave got it back to three one last time, 64-61, when Thomas put back his own miss, but ECU scored nine straight points as part of a 16-4 scoring run down to the 1:37 mark, as the Pirates built their largest lead of the game, 80-65, en route to the victory.

The Wave finished the night 23-for-61 (.377) from the field and 9-for-34 (.265) beyond the arc, while East Carolina went 29-for-55 (.527) on the floor and 20-for-24 (.833) at the foul stripe.

Tulane remains at home to host Temple on Wednesday, February 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the WatchESPN app.

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