Tulsa
Tulane
Earls Hits Game-Winning Three-Pointer Against Tulane
1/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2007
Box Score
New Orleans, La. - Rod Earls' three-pointer from the right elbow with two seconds remaining in the game led The University of Tulsa to a 79-78 come-from-behind victory over Tulane in front of a national television audience on CSTV and a crowd of 2,005 at Fogelman Arena.
Tulane (9-10, 2-5 C-USA) trailed Tulsa (14-6, 4-3 C-USA) for a majority of the final 10 minutes of the second half, but regained the lead when freshman Kevin Sims sank two free throws with 0:08.4 seconds remaining to give the Green Wave a 78-76 advantage. Tulsa pushed the ball down the floor in the waning seconds and freshman Mark Hill found Earls with a pass on the right side and the junior drilled the game-winner. Tulane had one chance to pull off a buzzer beater, but the Wave was forced to dribble the length of the floor with just 2.5 seconds remaining, and Sims' desperation heave came after the buzzer sounded and missed its mark.
Tulane built a pair of six-point leads early in the second half, but could not shake the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa rallied midway through the period and Charles Ramsdell's dunk with 9:57 remaining tied the game at 57 apiece. Sophomore Robinson Louisme gave the Wave a brief one-point lead when he connected on 1-of-2 free throw attempts, but Earls answered with one of his five three-point field goals to push his team out in front.
When Ben Uzoh hit two free throws Tulsa held a 71-66 advantage with 4:58 to play. The Green Wave sliced the lead to a single point twice and managed to tie the game at 76-76 on two Sims free throws with 0:55 remaining. Following a missed jumper by Earls, Sam Mitchell fouled Sims with 0:08.4 showing on the clock and set up the contest for its dramatic ending.
Earls led Tulsa to its first road win with 15 points, all three-pointers, while freshman Jamel McLean and senior Darold Crow contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively. Freshman Mark Hill dished out 10 assists for the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Tulane, 40-35, and became just the sixth team this season to shoot better than 40-percent from the field against the Green Wave, hitting on 45 percent of its attempts.
Tulsa charged out of the gates and took an eight point lead with less than three minutes gone by in the opening period. Tulane regained its focus and rallied to tie the game and take the lead on two Sims' free throw, and eventually built a six-point advantage when Sims hit one of his three treys with 5:14 to go in the first period. Earls brought Tulsa back with a three-pointer of his own and the Hurricane flirted with the lead in the final minutes before the Green Wave used a 9-0 run to close out the period and take a 44-40 lead into the break.
