WRAL Sports Fan

Final Score: East Carolina 28, Tulane 23

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Shane Carden threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns as he helped guide the East Carolina Pirates to a 28-23 win over the Tulane Green Wave in a Conference USA bout at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Carden converted 19-of-33 passes, was sacked once and had a pair of attempts picked off as the Pirates (7-4, 6-1 CUSA) logged their second straight win and the fourth in the last five outings. Carden also picked up an additional 36 yards and a score on the ground.

Tulane (2-9, 2-5) was paced by Ryan Griffin who hit on 36-of-57 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns, but his five sacks resulted in a loss of 38 yards which left the team with just nine net rushing yards on the day. Ryan Grant caught 10 passes for 94 yards in the squad's third straight loss.

The only points of the first quarter came from the Green Wave as Griffin capped a six-play, 54-yard drive with a 13-yard scoring pass to Xavier Rush.

Early in the second ECU tied the score at 7-7 with a seven-yard TD pass play between Carden and Justin Hardy.

Tulane pulled back ahead with just under six minutes remaining in the first half as Cairo Santos knocked through a 23-yard field goal after a 14-play drive stalled.

On the ensuing possession, Carden took matters into his own hands and crossed the goal line on a five-yard run to give the lead back to the Pirates at 14-10.

With time expiring in the half, the Green Wave closed the gap with a 43-yard field goal by Santos, making the deficit just a single point at the break, 14-13.

The teams continued to trade scores in the second half, with ECU's Reggie Bullock landing in the end zone following a five-yard run to give the visitors an eight-point edge.

Santos struck once more for the hosts late in the third with a 26-yard field goal to make the difference five points.

In the fourth quarter Carden combined with Andrew Bodenheimer on an 11-yard TD pass play to again boost the ECU lead, this time to double digits at 28-16.

Tulane had one last gasp as Griffin drove the team 73 yards on 12 plays in just over three minutes, culminating with a 31-yard TD pass to Wilson Van Hooser, but by then it was too late as the hosts bowed in the five-point decision.

Tulane, which entered the week ranked 119th in the nation in rushing with a mere 42.3 ypg, ran the ball a total of 22 times in the outing and finished with an average of 0.4 yards per attempt.