Rice University
3-7
TCU
8-4
A Tale of Two Halves
12/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2007
KATY - Rice swingman Lawrence Ghoram scored a career high 26 points as the Owls came back from a 17-point, first-half deficit to beat TCU 70-65 Saturday at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.
Rice, which improved to 3-7, trailed by 17 at one point late in the first half. TCU, 8-4, enjoyed a 35-20 lead at intermission but the Owls would outscore their former Southwest Conference rival by 20 after the break.
Ghoram, whose previous career scoring high was eight, scored the first seven points of the second half including a three-pointer and a bucket off a steal by point guard Bryan Beasley.
After a layup by TCU's Kevin Langford the rally continued as the Owls scored nine unanswered points, capped by a three-pointer by Rodney Foster that narrowed the Horned Frogs' lead to 37-36 with 14:36 to play.
TCU would extend its lead back out to six before another trey by Foster keyed a 9-0 run. Paulius Packevicius' field goal with 11:53 to play gave Rice its first lead, 43-42 with 11:53 left. All told, the Owls began the second half with a 25-7 run.
After five ties and six lead changes during a stretch midway through the second half, Rice would take the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Patrick Britton with 5:13 to play. Britton stole the ball on TCU's next possession and connected on another pair of free throws to extend the Owl lead.
Rice would go on to lead by as many as seven in the final minutes.
The comeback from a 17-point deficit ties for the fourth-biggest rally since statistics began being kept in the early 1980s at Rice. In an earlier win at Texas State, the Owls came back from being down by 14 points.
In addition to Ghoram's career day which included a 10-for-16 performance from the field along with 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal, Foster added 14 points and Britton scored 13.
TCU was led by Langford's 14-point effort while Henry Salter finished with 11 and Brent Hackett scored 10.
Saturday's game was the second in a home-and-home series between the two teams. TCU defeated the Owls 76-49 earlier in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs outrebounded Rice by 25 in that game. On Saturday, Rice outrebounded TCU by 28, 48-20, scoring 24 second-chance points.
Rice begins a three-game road swing Monday when the Owls travel to Texas A&M for a 1 p.m. game which will be broadcast by Fox Sports Net Southwest. TCU travels to Texas on Wednesday.
