NEW ORLEANS, La. – RJ Felton scored 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting and Ezra Ausar scored a career-high 22 points but Tulane outlasted East Carolina 81-78 on Friday night inside Avron B. Fogelman Arena.
 
Brandon Johnson recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates (15-15, 6-11 AAC) and Quentin Diboundje added 10 points.
 
Jaylen Forbes led Tulane (18-10, 11-6 AAC) with 25 points.
 
After trailing 10-5 early, ECU would score 10 of the game’s next 14 points to take the lead for the first time on a second-chance basket from Johnson at the 9:03 mark. The next nine minutes would feature four lead changes and two ties as the Pirates would end the first half on a 6-0 run capped off by a second chance bucket from Ausar to head into the break ahead 36-31.
 
ECU would take its largest lead after a Johnson three to make it 39-31 but Tulane would respond by holding the Pirates scoreless for two minutes and with an 8-0 run to take a 45-44 lead and force a Pirate timeout with 14:27 remaining.
 
Both teams would go back and forth over the final minutes but Tulane’s Sion James would score off a broken play with 12 seconds left to win the game for the Green Wave.
 
Despite shooting only 42 percent for the game, the Pirates outworked the Green Wave on the glass 45 to 31 and converted 18 offensive rebounds into 26 second-chance points. 
 
Up Next
The Pirates will conclude the regular season on Sunday in Orlando against UCF at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.