Jan. 10, 2009

Final Stats
Rice vs. Tulane Game Book in PDF Format

NEW ORLEANS - Eric Vianney scored a game-high 18 points, knocking down all five of his three-point attempts as Tulane defeated Rice 65-54 in the Owls' Conference USA opener Saturday at Fogelman Arena.

With the win, Tulane improved to 7-8 and 1-1 in C-USA play. Rice heads into a two-game home stand at 5-10 and 0-1. The Owls are at home Wednesday when they play host to SMU in a game which will be televised by CBS College.

On Saturday, Rice ended the first half with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 28-28. But midway through the second period, the Owls went over four minutes without scoring while Tulane put together a 10-0 run to take a 50-40 lead.

Connor Frizzelle had tied the game at 40-40 on a jumper from inside the paint with 10:57 to play.

Tulane's Kris Richard would answer with a three-pointer then Robinson Louisme scored a layup on a Green Wave fastbreak off a Rice miss. During the Wave's run, Rice missed three shots and turned the ball over a total of four times.

Rice could not close the gap to fewer than six points. Richard answered the first time with a jumper then Kevin Sims made two free throws after a Lucas Kuipers' three-pointer in the final minute.

Richard scored 16 points, had two steals and two assists off the bench for Tulane. Rice was led by Lawrence Ghoram's season-high 17 points.