Hans Brase netted 16 points as the Princeton Tigers held on for a 56-55 victory over the Tulane Green Wave in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational Tournament at Devlin Fieldhouse.
T.J. Bray contributed 12 points and nine assists for the Tigers (21-8), who will advance to play the winner of the first round bout between Fresno State and Texas-El Paso. Clay Wilson netted 11 points for Princeton.
Jonathan Stark paced Tulane (17-17) with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor, while Tre Drye chipped in 15 points and eight boards. Jay Hook also made his mark with nine points and eight rebounds. The loss completed the Green Wave's final season as a member of the Conference USA as they are set to become a member of the American Athletic Conference this July.
Princeton tallied 12 points off of turnovers and outscored the Green Wave, 16-10, in the paint in the opening period. Tulane went into the intermission facing a 29-23 deficit after it was limited to 34.8 percent efficiency from the floor in the first half.
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The Green Wave heated up to sink 46.2 percent of their field goal tries after the break. Princeton managed to stay in front and led, 54-46, with 1:26 remaining before Tulane put together a late rally. Stark drained a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in regulation to narrow the Tigers' lead down to 56-52, but the Green Wave could not capitalize on a missed free-throw attempt by Brase as Stark's next shot from beyond the arc fell off the mark. Stark hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it a one-point game after Bray missed his first attempt of a one-and-one trip to the charity stripe.
Despite the loss, Tulane enjoyed a 35-26 edge in the rebounding battle. Princeton assisted 14 of its 21 makes from the floor and tallied 17 points off of the Green Wave's 16 turnovers.
[SportsNetwork.com]
