NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University men’s basketball team (11-11) defeated the Temple Owls (13-9) in a 92-83 shootout on Saturday inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.
With the win, Tulane improved to 8-5 in conference play and currently sits fourth in the American.
Tulane spread the scoring around in the win. Jadan Coleman and Sion James both put up career-highs with 17 and 18 respectively. Jaylen Forbes led the Wave with 25 and Kevin Cross chipped in 15.
Tulane shot 48% from the field, including an efficient 9/18 from behind the arc. The Wave defense held the Owls to a 41% clip from the field and 36% from three.
Tulane outrebounded Temple 43-37 and outscored the Owls in the paint 36 to 18.
Temple took the lead early and held onto it for most of the first half. Tulane kept it close and never allowed the lead to reach more than five points. Jadan Coleman had two crucial threes in the first half to bring the wave within one, before Jaylen Forbes drove for a tough bucket, giving the Wave a 34-33 lead. Tulane continued the run and went into halftime with a 38-34 lead.
Tulane was down 66-62 with 5:30 left in the second half when the Green Wave went on a 6-0 run, holding the Owls scoreless for four minutes and 16 seconds.
Down one with 13 seconds to go, Tulane fouled and Temple made both shots to go up by three. On the other end, with the game on the line, Sion James found Jaylen Forbes who knocked down a deep three from the right wing with two seconds left to send the contest to overtime.
“I give all the credit to Sion,” Forbes said. “He came down and made a great pass and that’s why I had the shot that I did.”
Tied at 78 in OT, Forbes finished an acrobatic and one to put the Wave up 81-78. Next time down, Coleman drilled a double-clutch three to put Tulane up six, and the home team pulled away from there.
“For years Tulane hasn’t won these types of games,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Now we are.”
LAGNIAPPE
- This was Tulane’s first home victory over Temple since joining the AAC.
- Jaylen Forbes made his 45th straight start, the most on the team.
- Tulane has made at least one 3-point field goal in 248 consecutive games. The last time the Green Wave failed to do so came on Jan. 16, 2014 at home against Louisiana Tech when they went 0-for-14 from outside.
- Tulane had three or more players score in double figures for the 19th time this season.
- Tulane’s 92 points equaled its second-highest scoring total of the season.
UP NEXT
Tulane returns to action on Tuesday, as it heads to Tampa to take on The University of South Florida. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT.
{Press release courtesy of Tulane Athletics}