Tulane loses heartbreaker to No. 24 Florida Atlantic

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University men’s basketball (10-5, 1-2) was moments away from its first win over a ranked team since 1999, but the Green Wave ultimately fell in heartbreaking fashion 85-84 after No. 24/25 Florida Atlantic (12-4, 2-1) made two free throws to take the lead with under one second remaining.

The Wave battled back in the final minutes of the game with a 10-0 scoring run to take the lead with under a minute on the clock before the Owls decided the game at the charity stripe.

As a team, the Green Wave shot 52.9 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc against the Owls. The shooting performance by Tulane marks the seventh time this season the team has connected at 50-percent or better from the floor and 40-percent or higher from downtown in the same game.

Four players finished with double figures in scoring for the Wave led by Jaylen Forbes who tallied a game-high 28 points to match his season high. The senior guard posted 23 of his 28 points in the second half including five made threes after halftime. Kevin Cross recorded his sixth 20-point performance of the season scoring 20 points and adding 11 rebounds and four assists.

Collin Holloway posted his third consecutive game and his ninth this season with double-digit points as he ended with 14 points and a team-high five assists. Rounding out the top performers for Tulane was Sion James with 13 points, four boards, and three steals.

All five starters scored double figures for Florida Atlantic led by Nick Boyd with 21 points and Vladislav Goldin with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Owls took the early advantage in the contest building an 11-point lead just over five minutes into the first half. The Green Wave slowly chipped away at the deficit as the teams went back-and-forth exchanging buckets over the next several minutes.

Tulane claimed its first lead of the night after a James three-pointer capped a 12-5 run that put the Wave in front 38-37 with 46 second left in the first half. However, Florida Atlantic got the final bucket of the half as Tulane hit the locker room trailing 39-38 at the half.

The second half opened with 17-8 scoring run by the Owls that pushed the Wave’s deficit back to double digits with 15:29 on the clock. Tulane responded to pull back within one point on multiple occasions over the next few minutes but could not reclaim the lead.

Florida Atlantic extended its lead back out to nine points with just 3:03 remaining but the Green Wave was unfazed responding with 10 unanswered points to take the lead 84-83 on a layup by Holloway with 28 seconds left.

Unfortunately, Tulane was called for a foul on a deep three-point attempt by the Owls with under one second on the clock. Florida Atlantic’s Alijah Martin made two of the three attempts from the charity stripe ultimately sending Tulane home with the 85-84 defeat.

Up next, Tulane will hit the road to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Sunday, January 14. Tipoff between the Green Wave and the Golden Hurricane in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

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