Tulane defeated its next-door rival Loyola 70-68 in anexhibition match Nov. 6 at Fogelman Arena.

The first half of the contest was close and ended with the GreenWave leading 42-37. In the second half Tulane managed to build a12-point lead, but Loyola chipped away and brought the game withina single point. Loyola’s Chris Joseph missed a free throw, thefirst of a one-and-one, with one second left, resulting in atwo-point victory for Tulane.

“It was a very good game for us,” Tulane head coach Ed Conroysaid. “It put us in game situations that are hard to simulate inpractice. It’s hard to simulate the crowd and fatigue and differentlineups due to injury. It was a great game for us, and Loyolaplayed well. We will benefit and grow from this.”

In addition to gaining valuable game experience, the Green Wavemade good shot selections throughout the contest. Tulane missedmany of its easier shots, blowing lay-ups down the stretch thatcould have put the game out of reach. Tulane’s free throw shootingwas also sub-standard, as the team only made 51.7 percent of itsfree throw attempts. For the Green Wave, these are technical issuesthat can be improved upon as the season progresses.

Forward Robert Lovaglio led the Wolfpack by scoring 19 pointsand grabbing six rebounds. Loyola connected on 8 of 17 3-pointattempts (47.1 percent), constantly finding open looks from beyondthe arc. What hurt the squad, though, were its 18 turnovers, whichled to 24 Tulane points.

Two standouts for the Green Wave were sophomore transfer JoshDavis, who led the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and truefreshman Ricky Tarrant, who scored 19 points. These two look to beyoung leaders on this team.

The Wolfpack played admirably for an NAIA team matching upagainst the Division I Green Wave. The Wolfpack showed heart innearly coming back from a double-digit deficit in the final minutesof the game. Loyola, however, frequently fouled and gave the GreenWave 29 free throw attempts.