Flowers double-double powers Eagles in C-USA Tournament
EL PASO, Texas - Senior forward Gary Flowers' ninth double-double of the season led Southern Mississippi past Tulane 63-47 on Wednesday in the first round of the Conference USA tournament.
Flowers had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (22-9), who will face fourth-seeded Memphis (22-9) in the quarterfinals Thursday. The senior forward reached double figures for the 27th consecutive game.
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LaShay Page added 12 points and Josimar Ayarza 10 for Southern Miss, which shot 46.8 percent while limiting Tulane to 34.0.
The 12th-seeded Green Wave (13-17) got 16 points from Kris Richard and 15 from Kendall Timmons. Richard hit four 3-pointers.
Trailing 5-4, Southern Miss reeled off the next 10 points, ending with a basket by Ayarza that made it 14-5 with 14:51 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles held the Green Wave scoreless for the final 5:09 and led 35-18 at halftime.
The second-half lead peaked at 22.