TULSA, Okla. (WGNO) — Tulane University men’s basketball (11-5, 2-2) erased a 14-point second-half deficit to return to the win column and notch its first road conference victory of the season by defeating Tulsa (9-7, 0-4) 94-87 in overtime on Sunday. Senior Kevin Cross spearheaded the comeback for the Green Wave scoring 17 of his 28 points in the second half and overtime.
With the win, the Wave moved back to .500 in league play and improved to 2-1 in true road games this season. The victory also marked Tulane’s 11th win all-time against the Golden Hurricane.
Five players tallied double figures in scoring for Tulane including a pair with 20-plus point performances. Cross led the Wave with 28 points to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Fellow senior Jaylen Forbes recorded his second-straight game with at least 20 points as he poured in 20 points with four made threes.
Tre’ Williams returned to action after missing the previous three games and made an immediate impact tallying 12 points off the bench. Rounding out the top performers for the Green Wave were Collin Holloway and Kolby King with 10 points each.
As a team, the Tulane shot 46.3 percent from field while racking up 42 points in the paint and 18 points off Tulsa turnovers. The shooting performance marks sixth time this season the Wave has connected on at least 45 percent from the floor.
After a back-and-forth start where Tulane and Tulsa exchanged the lead five times in the first half, it was the Golden Hurricane that made the biggest run with 5:42 on the clock. Tulsa scored 12 unanswered points to take a 39-30 lead with 4:17 to play before the Wave ultimately faced a 44-37 deficit at the break.
Tulane attempted to chip away at the Golden Hurricane’s lead early in the second half, but Tulsa continued to keep the Wave at bay eventually building its largest advantage of the day at 14 points with 13:36 to play. The Green Wave mounted a massive response with a 19-3 scoring run to storm back to take the lead 64-62 with 8:17 remaining.
Tulsa would reclaim the lead shortly after the run by Tulane but never managed to pull away as the two teams traded buckets over the final minutes. Cross stepped up for the Wave scoring six points in the final minute including knocking down the game-tying shot with nine seconds left to send the game into overtime.
In overtime Tulane took the early advantage on a breakaway slam by Sion James and never looked back. Cross tallied eight of the Green Wave’s 16 points in the overtime period to lead Tulane to the comeback victory over Tulsa 94-87.
Up next, Tulane will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to face UAB on Wednesday, January 17. Tipoff between the Green Wave and the Blazers is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
{Courtesy: Tulane Athletics}
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