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Nov. 25, 2003

Final Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Junior Ben Benfield and sophomore Vytas Tatarunas combined for 36 points to lead Tulane University to a 78-72 victory over Southern University in its men's basketball opener on Tuesday evening at Fogelman Arena.

Benfield tallied a career-best 21 points, including drilling five-of-six three-pointers, while Tatarunas registered his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-best 12 rebounds.

Southern (0-2) pulled within three on a free throw by Timothy Johnson (19 points) made it 73-70 with 59.5 seconds to go. However, Johnson missed the second shot and Quincy Davis rebounded for the Green Wave. Tulane (1-0) worked the clock before taking a timeout to talk things over. Then, out of the break, Marcus Kinzer found freshman Troy Aaron, who swished an 18-foot jumper under pressure with 28 seconds to go.

A three-pointer by Johnson was blocked by Davis and Benfield rebounded and fed Kinzer, who was immediately fouled. The junior hit both free throws and it was 77-70 with nine seconds remaining.

Brandon Wardlow drove hard to the hoop for another Jaguar bucket, but Benfield hit one-of-two free throws to ice it with 2.5 seconds remaining.

"We played with confidence when it got to crunch time," Tulane coach Shawn Finney said. "Troy [Aaron] made a big shot and we made our free throws down the stretch. This is what we needed. You need to play close games with a young team. It is part of the process."

Tulane shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field and hit 7-of-15 three-pointers. The Wave built a 44-28 advantage on the boards and also held Southern to 41.9 percent (26-of-62) shooting.

Tulane held a 50-45 lead with 11:44 to go in the game when Benfield erupted, connecting on three straight three-pointers to give the Green Wave a 59-48 advantage with 9:22 to go.

"I played a lot this game," Benfield said after seeing a career-high 32 minutes of action. "When you stay in the game longer, you get loose and you get into a rhythm."

"When Ivan [Pjevcevic] went down, Ben really stepped up," Kinzer said. "When opportunity knocked, he opened the door and knocked them [the threes] down."

Tulane wasted little time getting started as the Wave jumped to a 12-0 lead, capped by a three-pointer by Pjevcevic with 14:22 to go in the half. However, the 7-0 Pjevcevic went down shortly after with a knee injury and would not return.

"We jumped on them early and did a good job," Finney said. "I am happy with the guys and the way they played. We kept fighting."

"Everybody was ready to play; I know I was ready," Benfield said. "It feels good to start playing games and not just practicing."

After the hot start, however, Southern battled back, using a 10-4 run at the end of the half to cut it to 37-30 at the break.

Benfield and Tatarunas were the only Wave players in double figures, however, Davis added nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Wayne Tinsley chipped in with eight points.

Tulane returns to action on Saturday, hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. at Fogelman Arena. Tickets are available by calling 504-861-WAVE.