Tulane University
East Carolina
![Freshmen Daniel Puckett (above) and Ryan Williams combined for 18 second-half points to lead the Wave to victory on Saturday. [File photo by Ned Dishman]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Ftulanegreenwave.com%2Fimages%2F2006%2F2%2F25%2F451107.jpeg&height=300&type=webp)
Freshmen Lead Tulane Men to Road Win Over East Carolina
Feb 25, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The Tulane freshmen duo of Ryan Williams and Daniel Puckett combined for 18 second-half points to lead the Green Wave to a 66-53 road victory over East Carolina in Conference USA men's basketball action on Saturday evening at Minges Coliseum.
Williams scored 11 and Puckett had seven, all in the second half, while they also combined for 11 rebounds. Sophomore David Gomez led the Wave with 15 points while senior Quincy Davis scored 13.
"This was a classic team win," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "Everybody played well and everybody did a great job. And our two freshmen, on the road, they were the reason we won the game. Our post guys were in foul trouble and out of their rhythm, but everybody else stepped up."
Junior Chris Moore buried a three-pointer to give Tulane (10-15, 5-7 C-USA) a 44-41 advantage with 12:43 to go. After East Carolina (8-18, 2-11 C-USA) had a jumper from Taylor Gagnon to pull within one at 44-43, the Green Wave defense clamped down in a big way. The Pirates would connect on just three field goals the rest of the way as the swarming Wave forced 12 missed shots over the final 12 minutes.
"We held them to 32 percent from the field and 18 percent from three," Dickerson said. "All of their threes came in the first half. We did a great job of digging in on the road. We guarded on the perimeter; we guarded inside; and we topped it off by rebounding the basketball."
While East Carolina hit just 32.1 percent (18-of-56) of its shots, Tulane nailed 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the field. The Wave was 5-for-8 from three-point range in the second half, while the Pirates were 0-for-11. Tulane held a 40-28 advantage on the glass.
After Gagnon's shot made it 44-43, Tulane rattled off 10 unanswered points. Williams scored on a pair of hard drives and Moore and Puckett both drained three-pointers in the run, which made it 54-43 with 8:04 to go.
The Pirates pulled back within nine on a Jonathan Hart dunk at the 6:43 mark, but Davis answered with a putback to push the margin back to 11. Despite the fact Tulane would not hit another field goal, the lead would not drop below 10 the rest of the way. The Wave was 9-of-10 from the line down the stretch to clinch the victory.
"Our guys performed, especially in the second half." Dickerson said. "We did everything we needed to do to win the game, but the main thing we did was play hard. We have to play hard in order to win games."
The victory was the second road win of the year for the Green Wave, its most since the 2002-03 season. It was also the 10th win of the year for the Wave, matching last year's total. Its five league wins is one more than last year.
East Carolina was led by senior Corey Rouse who tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds on Senior Day in Greenville. The veteran leads Conference USA in rebounding, but was held to just three in the second half after a dominant first half. He was the only Pirate in double figures in scoring.
In the first half, Tulane ran out to a 29-19 advantage after holding ECU scoreless for a six-minute stretch. However, the Pirates held Tulane scoreless for the final 6:06 of the stanza, taking a 30-29 advantage at the break. Tulane had five players in foul trouble in the first half.
The Green Wave plays its final home game of the 2005-06 season on Wednesday evening, hosting Southern Miss for Senior Day at Fogelman Arena at 7 p.m. For ticket information for all Green Wave athletic events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office in Fogelman Arena at 504-247-1240 or 1241.
