Taplin’s Late Trey Seals 77-73 Overtime Win at ECU on Sunday

Sunday, February 17

Greenville, N.C.

1 PM

Tulsa

16-10, 6-7

ECU

9-16, 2-10

Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Tulsa	37	30	10	77
ECU	26	41	6	73

Photo by: Dave Crenshaw

Taplin’s Late Trey Seals 77-73 Overtime Win at ECU on Sunday

2/17/2019 4:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Stats

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Sterling Taplin's 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in overtime sealed a 77-73 overtime Tulsa victory at ECU, its third straight win, on Sunday afternoon at Minges Coliseum.

Taplin battled foul trouble for much of the contest but finished with 11 points and was one of six players to score in double-figures for the Golden Hurricane (16-10, 6-7). Martins Igbanu led the way with 16 points, while Jeriah Horne netted 12 points. DaQuan Jeffries and Elijah Joiner joined Taplin with 11 and Darien Jackson finished with 10.

Tulsa shot 47.4-percent for the game and hit four of its six shots in the extra session. TU got 33 points from its bench and scored 34 points in the paint.

With the win, Tulsa improved to 19-3 overall against ECU and the Hurricane has now won 10 of the last 11 in the series.

Meanwhile, Shawn Williams hit eight 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 26 points for the Pirates (9-16, 2-11), who also got a 19-point, 16-rebound effort from freshman Jayden Gardner.

In the overtime, Joiner put TU on top 72-71 with a triple and a jumper in the lane. Two free throws from Williams reclaimed the lead for ECU with 1:11 left. However, Igbanu scored inside with 58 seconds left and after a defensive stop, Taplin drilled a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left and the shot clock winding down for the 77-73 advantage.

ECU missed a triple in the closing seconds and TU closed out the four-point win.

The Tulsa defense started strong in the first half as it held the Pirates to 1-of-10 shooting and five turnovers in the first eight minutes. The defense fueled the offense as the Hurricane raced out to a 17-3 lead.

With 5:45 left in the half, the advantage was 31-14 after an 11-3 run. Williams started to get hot behind the arc and his four 3-pointers over the final seven minutes helped the Pirates close the gap to 37-26 at intermission.

ECU outscored Tulsa 21-7 through the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second half to take a 47-44 lead. The Pirates led by as much as 56-50 with nine minutes left in regulation, but Jackson helped spur a TU rally to reclaim a 59-58 edge with five minutes on the clock.

In the final minute of regulation, Curran Scott's free throw with 37 ticks left tied the score at 67 and a potential game-winning jumper by Jeffries rimmed out at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

Tulsa will be back in action at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when it will host Wichita State (12-12, 5-7) at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

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