Tulane University
Long Beach St.
Men's Basketball Falls In Hawaii, 79-74
Nov 26, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2000
HILO, Hawaii (AP) - A second-half comeback by Tulane University fell just short as Long Beach State defeated the Green Wave, 79-74, in the third-place game of the Big Island Invitational Basketball Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
Sophomore Brandon Brown (Houma, La.) scored a career-high 20 points and added rebounds and a career-best three assists, while junior Linton Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) also had a career-high with 20 points, including a career-high three three-pointers. Senior Ledaryl Billingsley (Chicago, Ill.) notched his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, including the 500th board of his career.
Tulane (3-2) trailed by 11 at 73-62 with 6:53 to go, but its tenacious press flustered the attack of Long Beach State (3-2). Brown scored in the paint and Billingsley slammed home a dunk to cut the deficit to seven with 4:28 to go. Long Beach State's Ramel Lloyd (team-high 18 points) flipped in a layup to make it 75-66, but Johnson hit a pair of free throws and, following a 49er miss, he floated in for an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 75-71 with 3:18 to go. Another 49er miss was rebounded by Billingsley, who was fouled. He hit one of two to make it a three-point ball game.
However, the teams traded misses and then traded turnovers, eating valuable time for the Wave. Long Beach State big man James Williams nailed an eight-foot jumper in the lane to make it 77-72 with 1:07 to go. A Tulane miss on the other end was rebounded by Johnson, who scored with the follow to make it 77-74 with 43 seconds remaining.
The Wave had one final chance when they forced a turnover, but a steal by Long Beach State sealed the win when Lloyd dropped in a layup to close the scoring.
"We have to quit falling behind in the first half," Tulane head coach Shawn Finney said. "We have to come out ready to play. In the second half, we were much more aggressive and more emotional. That's part of being a young team. We're going to grow together."
Tulane trailed by as many as 19 in the second half, but quickly came to life, cutting the deficit. Trailing 64-47 with 12:11 to go, the Wave press created seven straight points capped by a Johnson three-pointer to make it 64-54 with 11:32 to go. The 49ers scored five straight points to push the margin back to 15, but Tulane rallied again, scoring eight straight, including the final three by Billingsley on a free throw and a tip-in to make it 69-62 with 8:20 to go.
Tulane shot 50.9 percent from the field, but Long Beach State was red-hot at 58.3 percent. The Wave held a slim 30-27 edge on the boards, while forcing 23 turnovers. Tulane committed 19 turnovers, itself.
In the first half, back-to-back dunks from Johnson gave the Wave a 13-11 lead. However, the 49ers responded with a 13-0 run to take a 24-13 lead with 11 minutes to go. A three-pointer from freshman Justin Amick (Atlanta, Ga.) stopped the run, but Long Beach built the lead to as many as 20 in the opening half, closing the stanza with a 47-30 advantage.
Tulane returns to action on Saturday, playing at Southern Methodist University at 2 p.m. in Dallas.
