Dec. 21, 2009

Box Score in PDF Format

LAFAYETTE, La. - The final point of David Booker's career-high 26 came on a free throw with 0:05 left in the game to give the Tulane men's basketball team a three-point lead over Louisiana-Lafayette, the lead they would hold for the 73-70 victory on Monday night in the Cajundome.

Booker's 26 points led all scorers and came on nine of 12 shooting, including knocking down six of seven from 3-point range.

Tulane (4-7) trailed 33-31 at the half, but retook the lead 40-38 four minutes into the half on one of Booker's 3-pointers. ULL (4-6) jumped back on top 45-44 on a Chris Grandnigo lay-up a few minutes later and would hang onto the lead for all but a few moments until The Green Wave took the lead for good with 5:21 left to play on a Kris Richard's lay-up.

The Green Wave led by as many as six down the stretch before ULL got within one, 65-64, after a Tyren Johnson lay-up with 1:33 remaining. Booker's sixth 3-pointer put Tulane back up four with 0:25 remaining. Tulane knocked down three free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.

"I am very proud of our program tonight because we were facing losing five in a row and I challenged the players and challenged the coaches to try and get some respect and pride back in this program," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "I knew this was going to be a difficult place to play and ULL has some really good players and coach Lee does a great job. This was a nice win not only for this team and these players, but for the program as a whole."

Tulane ended its four-game losing streak with the win.

Sims added 15 points in the victory, including 13 in the second half with three 3-pointers.

ULL led 6-5 with just under three minutes into the game, but failed to score for almost six minutes while Tulane rattled off 10 straight points to take a 15-6 lead with 12:04 remaining.

The Green Wave expanded that lead to 16, 25-9, with 8:31 left in the half before watching ULL score the next nine points to cut the lead down to 25-18 with 5:30 left. Booker, who had knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during Tulane earlier run, snapped ULL's run with a lay-up.

The Cajuns capped the come back with a 22-4 run to retake a 31-29 lead with 1:12 left in the half. ULL, who missed nine of the first 13 shots of the game, connected on seven straight in the comeback, including three 3-pointers.

For the first time this season Tulane won the battle on the boards, 27-23, and were led by Richard and Aaron Holmes with five each.

The Green Wave shot 46.0 percent from the floor and knocked down 48.0 percent in the second half. ULL shot 56.3 percent from the floor in the game, including 58.3 percent on the opening 20 minutes of the game.

Johnson led ULL with 23 points and five rebounds, while Gradnigo had 21 points and Randell Daigle with 11 points.

Asim McQueen added nine points for the Green Wave, while Holmes hit for eight points, including hitting all six of his free throws.

Tulane will take eight days off for the holidays and return to the court to host North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. CST in Fogelman Arena.

GAME NOTES
- David Booker's 26 points tonight are a career-high. His previous high was 14 points against Georgetown. This game is also his third double figure scoring game of his career and this season.
- Booker's six 3-pointers made are also the most by a Tulane player since Kevin Sims knocked down five against East Carolina on March 11, 2009.
- Kevin Sims' four free throws made tonight moved him into sole possession of fifth-place on Tulane's career free throws made list.
- Sims scored in double figures for the 71st time in his career and the eighth time this season.

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