Tulane University
Saint Louis
Men's Basketball Comeback Falls Short at Saint Louis
Feb 28, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2001
SAINT LOUIS, Mo. - A late comeback by Tulane University fell short and the Green Wave lost, 76-66, to Saint Louis University in Conference USA men's basketball action on Wednesday evening at the Savvis Center.
Tulane (9-19, 2-13 C-USA) was led by senior Ledaryl Billingsley (Chicago, Ill.), who posted his 12th double-double of year with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Linton Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) added his ninth double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while sophomore Brandon Brown (Houma, La.) collected 13 points and five boards. Freshman Justin Amick (Atlanta, Ga.) notched a career-high seven points.
Tulane trailed by 15 at 59-44 with 7:27 to go, but used a ferocious comeback to claw back into the game. Johnson and sophomore Brandon Spann (New Orleans, La.) hit back-to-back threes and then Johnson came back with an old-fashioned three-point play and with 5:50 to go, Tulane was within five at 59-54.
Saint Louis' Maurice Jeffers (game-high 22 points) stopped the Wave run with a big three-pointer, but not for long. Billingsley hit one-of-two free throws and then stole the ball at midcourt, finding Amick for an open layup. A Billiken miss was followed by Billingsley connecting from downtown and Tulane was within two at 62-60.
Saint Louis scored on a dunk by Matt Baniak, but Billingsley found Amick for a wide-open three which he knocked down and the Wave was within one 2:36 to go.
However, back-to-back offensive foul calls crushed the Green Wave momentum. Meanwhile, Saint Louis (15-13, 7-8) made it final 10 free throws in the final 1:52 to clinch the victory in its final home game of the season.
"We had our chance," Tulane head coach Shawn Finney said. "But we did not capitalize. We were playing good even though it was desperation basketball. We played hard and guys stepped up. But we just can't win when we have 27 turnovers."
The 27 turnovers by the Wave was a season-high while Saint Louis had just 15 give-aways. Tulane dominated the glass, 39-22, including an 18-7 edge on the offensive end.
"We played better defensively, even though they shot 53 percent," Finney said. "We limited them to just seven offensive rebounds. It was probably our best road defensive effort of the year."
Tulane closes the regular season on Saturday, playing at Houston at 7 p.m. The Green Wave departs Monday for the Conference USA Tournament in Louisville, Kent. Tulane will play in the opening round on Wednesday.
