Published: March 12, 2008 11:44 pm      

Tulane rallies to a 48-47 victory over Herd

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kevin Sims scored 14 points, including the winning free throws with 6.4 seconds left, and Tulane rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat Marshall 48-47 in Wednesday’s opening round of the Conference USA tournament.

Marshall (16-14) had little chance to get off a shot in the final seconds because Tulane (17-14) had two fouls to give, preventing Marshall from advancing the ball into the front court.

Markel Humphrey’s shot from the top of the key at the end was blocked by Donnavan Stith, his fourth rejection of the game. Tulane will play No. 2 Memphis, the tournament’s top seed, in Thursday’s second round.

Tulane closed the game with 11 unanswered points after Marshall took its biggest lead of the game, 47-37 with 6:44 left.

Tirrell Baines led Marshall with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyler Wilkerson added 10 points.

“We just ran out of gas down the stretch,” Marshall coach Donnie Jones said.

Marshall had defeated Tulane both times in the regular season and looked like it was headed to its third victory until the late Green Wave rally.

“The key, I feel, was cutting down on their second shots,” Tulane forward David Gomez said. “The first two times we played them, we let them get to the boards pretty easy. Luckily for us, their first shots didn’t fall, and we were able to get those rebounds and do something with them.”

Mark Dorris, Marshall’s leading scorer at 13.9 points, was held to 5 points on 2-of-10 from the field.

“I thought he was trying to win it by himself, taking tough shots,” Jones said. “It’s hard for our basketball team to win if Mark doesn’t score, and we don’t get a little bit out of Darryl (Merthie).”

Marshall had taken the lead in the early seconds of the second half, the game’s 10th lead change after a closely played first half. The Thundering Herd didn’t relinquish the advantage until Sims’ free throws.

But the Green Wave started chipping away after facing its biggest deficit and used consecutive baskets by Asim McQueen to pull to 47-46 with 55 seconds left.

“If we had to pick a guy to make some shots, we were hoping it was (McQueen) taking them,” Jones said. “I thought our guys did a good job doubling the post, and if you had told me we could hold Gomez to 9 points and (Robinson) Louisme to 5, I would have thought we had a great chance to win.”

Tulane held a 26-25 lead at the break.

Both teams had trouble handling the ball in the first half, committing a total 22 turnovers, Marshall with a dozen of the miscues. Tulane finished with 18 turnovers, while shooting 40 percent, while Marshall had 16 miscues and shot 36 percent.



TULANE (17-14)

Stith 1-4 0-0 2, Gomez 4-7 1-3 9, Louisme 2-9 1-2 5, Sims 5-12 2-2 14, Wheaton 0-2 0-0 0, Richard 1-3 0-0 2, McQueen 3-4 0-0 6, Vianney 1-3 0-0 2, Puckett 3-6 1-1 8. Totals 20-50 5-8 48.

MARSHALL (16-14)

Humphrey 4-13 0-0 9, Baines 6-14 3-4 15, Wilkerson 5-6 0-0 10, Altidor-Cespedes 0-1 0-0 0, Dorris 2-10 0-0 5, Merthie 2-8 1-1 6, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 1-3 0-0 2, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Oglesby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 4-5 47.

Halftime—Tulane 26-25. 3-Point Goals—Tulane 3-11 (Sims 2-4, Puckett 1-2, Richard 0-1, Stith 0-1, Wheaton 0-1, Vianney 0-2), Marshall 3-13 (Merthie 1-2, Humphrey 1-4, Dorris 1-6, Baines 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Tulane 31 (Gomez 8), Marshall 31 (Baines 10). Assists—Tulane 12 (Richard, Sims, Vianney 3), Marshall 13 (Altidor-Cespedes, Humphrey, Marshall 3). Total Fouls—Tulane 11, Marshall 11.