Box Score NEW ORLEANS - A University of New Orleans team with just one scholarship player pushed the full-scholarship Division I squad from Tulane to its limit, before falling 57-53 on Tuesday night at Lakefront Arena.
TU (6-2) ended a four-game losing streak against UNO (4-3) while knotting the all-time series at 23. The Green Wave entered the game with losses in eight of the last 10 meetings against the Privateers.
The Green Wave were led by Kendall Timmons' 15 points with the pair of Jordan Callahan and Aaron Holmes scoring 12 apiece.
The Privateers received 15 points from
Ryan Kinsley, 13 of which came in the first half.
Antonio Wertz added 10 points with
Brandon Knight grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Optimism was aplenty early in the game for UNO as the Privateers rolled out of the gate to a 9-1 lead as the visiting Green Wave misfired on their first seven attempts from the field.
Ryan Kinsley had seven points during the run as the Privateers' lead eventually grew to 14-3.
TU would battle back as their shooting finally hit the mark. The Green Wave made 10 of their next 19 shots to take their first lead, a 23-22 advantage with 4:11 left in the first half.
The Privateers had the hot hand in the final four minutes of the opening half as
Zach Kinsley scored his first five points of the game to push UNO back ahead 27-23. Brother
Ryan Kinsley followed with a three-pointer and UNO was ahead 30-23 before the Green Wave finished the half by seven of the final nine points before the break to make it 32-30 in favor of the Privateers.
In the second half, UNO had their own bout with field goal struggles, making just 1 of 9 shots after the break, allowing TU to move ahead 42-37, their largest advantage of the game to that point.
The Green Wave would maintain their lead throughout most of the second half as the Privateers struggled to a 30 percent field goal percentage after the break. UNO shot 59.1 percent during the game's first 20 minutes.
TU capitalized on free throw shooting down the stretch, making 11 of 16 during the second half after having a shooting percentage below 40 percentage from the charity stripe early in the second half.
The Privateers will now hit the road for two straight games in Florida, visiting Webber International on Friday at 7 p.m. Central followed by a game one day later against Southeastern (Fla.) at 6 p.m.
