Tulane University
Savannah State
Men's Basketball Rolls Past Savannah State, 78-60
Jan 7, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Sophomore forward David Gomez scored 19 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead the Tulane University men's basketball team to a 78-60 victory over Savannah State in non-conference action Saturday evening at Fogelman Arena.
The Green Wave shot a 54.7 percent from the field (29-of-53), their second-best showing of the season, including a 65.4 mark in the first half (17-of-26). The Tigers actually outscored Tulane 39-22 in the second half, but a 25-point differential in the opening stanza proved to be the difference. With the win, Tulane improves to 4-8 on the year while Savannah State drops to 1-16.
"I wish we could have played better in the second half," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "I wanted us to get some momentum going into conference play and we weren't able to do that. In the first half, we played decent basketball at times, but in the second half, we had turnovers and poor foul shooting. We've got to get better before we go to Southern Miss."
Gomez was one of three Tulane players to post double-digit scoring totals as junior guard Chris Moore had 13 and senior forward Vytas Tatarunas added 12. Gomez shared team-high rebounding honors with Tatarunas, and the point guard tandem of rookie Ryan Williams and junior Andrew Garcia combined to assist on 12 of Tulane's 29 baskets.
"It's good to see Vy play well because we need his leadership," Dickerson said. "He's a guy that's been there before."
Savannah State hung with the Green Wave early, but with Tulane holding a 7-5 advantage three minutes into the ballgame, the home team began pulling away. The lead swelled to double digits courtesy of a layup by senior center Quincy Davis at the 13:11 mark, and was up to 20 points at 34-14 less than seven minutes later.
Tulane held a 46-21 lead at halftime, but the Tigers came out after the break on fire and used a 9-0 run to open the half and cut the lead to 46-30 less than four minutes into the stanza. Tatarunas ended the scoring drought with an and-one layup at 16:34 mark to make it 49-30 and the Green Wave never looked back.
The Green Wave pushed their lead back to 25 on a putback by Davis with 9:03 left to play, but the Tigers refused to go away. Savannah State hit five of its next seven shots from the field - including 3-pointers from Michael Bennett and Javon Randolph - to cut the lead back down to 16, but Tulane outscored the Tigers 7-4 the rest of the way to secure an 18-point win.
Randolph led Savannah State with 18 points, followed by Joseph Flegler with 16 and Bennett with 10. Chauncey Shaw paced the Tigers in rebounding with six.
Tulane returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 11, when the Green Wave travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., and open Conference USA play vs. Southern Miss at 7 p.m. Tulane's next home game is slated for Saturday, Jan. 14, vs. Rice.
For ticket information, contact the Tulane Ticket Office at 504-247-1240. The Ticket Office is currently located in the lobby of Fogelman Arena, and is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can also purchase on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
