Tulane Buzzer-Beater Bites Owls

Perka matches career high in 61-59 loss

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 28, 2009) Kevin Sims drove baseline to baseline for a layup that beat the final horn as Tulane defeated Rice 61-59 Wednesday in Tudor Fieldhouse.

Tulane came back from a 39-25 halftime deficit to defeat the Owls, sweep a home-and-home Conference USA series and improve to 9-10 and 3-3 league play. Rice has now lost its last four in dropping to 6-14 and 1-5.

Sims’ game-winning basket came after teammate Robinson Louisme rebounded a missed free throw by Rice’s Aleks Perka and the Green Wave called timeout with five seconds to play.

Perka had tied the game at 59-59 with the first of two at the free throw line with six seconds on the clock. The Rice senior had made his first seven field goal attempts and equaled a career high with 15 points. He stepped to the free throw line with a chance to put the Owls in front after he went up for a shot in the paint and was fouled by Eric Vianney.

Rice didn’t make a field goal in nearly the last 10 minutes of the game. The Owls’ last lead came with over six minutes on the clock. Tulane’s Kris Richard gave Tulane a 54-53 lead with 6:05 to play when he converted a three-point play. He would make a pair of free throws to cap the Green Wave’s next possession and Tulane went on to lead by as many as five, 58-53.

Lawrence Ghoram then made five of seven free throws during a one stretch of time. He made the first of two free throw attempts to tie the game at 58-58 with 1:35 to play. Nate Schwarze rebounded Ghoram’s miss of the second shot but after a Rice timeout, Connor Frizzelle missed a jumper that would have given the Owls the lead.

The shot clock sounded as Richard rebounded the ball. He was able to get out in front of the Rice defense, driving the length of the court before being fouled by Perka with 21 seconds remaining. Richard made the first of two free throw attempts to put the Green Wave back out in front, 59-58.

To begin the game, Rice made eight of its first 10 field goal attempts and built as much as a 19-point lead in the opening half. Cory Pflieger and Bryan Beasley both made three-pointers during a 12-0 run that put the Owls out in front, 30-11 with 8:16 to play in the period.

Rice played the final 13 minutes of the game without senior guard Rodney Foster who sprained his ankle. In 20 minutes of action Foster had scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting, dished out six assists and pulled down four rebounds.

At the time of his injury, Rice was leading 48-40.

Richard came off the bench to score 17 points for Tulane. He also had six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sims scored 14 points while Louisme had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Rice returns to action Saturday when the Owls play host to East Carolina. Game time is set for 1 p.m. Tulane plays host to UCF on Saturday.