Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Bulldogs 91, UTSA 69
Isaiah Crawford paced Louisiana Tech on offense and defense, registering a game-high 20 points to go along with a career-high six steals, to help the Bulldogs get past UTSA by a final score of 91-69 on Thursday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
Three fellow Bulldogs joined the forward in double figures with Keaston Willis adding 17, Cobe Williams with 16, and Dravon Mangum off the bench for 15 as LA Tech (8-5, 1-1 C-USA) shot a season-best 53.8 percent from the field.
“I thought our big three – Keaston, Cobe, and Isaiah – were huge tonight,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “The key to our car has been Jordan Crawford. For a freshman to come into this game and have seven assists to zero turnovers, he got guys shots and let our big three be great. We started off well going to Isaiah, getting him some touches. I felt like he was really locked in. And from our five spot, Kenny and Will together they had 14 rebounds and 12 points.”
Meanwhile, the ‘Dogs won the battle of the boards (+11 rebounding margin) and had the combination of taking care of the basketball with a season-low eight turnovers while also taking it away (forced 17 that turned into 22 points).
LA Tech gained a little separation in the first half, going on a 10-3 run to take a 33-23 edge with 6:48 remaining in the stanza. Despite giving up seven three-pointers to UTSA (6-7, 0-2 C-USA) through the first 20 minutes, the ‘Dogs held a 43-36 halftime edge.
With the Roadrunners still hanging around, trailing by 12 (76-64) with 6:17 to play in the game, LA Tech gradually started to increase its lead. The ‘Dogs allowed just one made field goal the rest of the way, outscoring the visitors, 15-5 over the final six minutes (including back-to-back layups by Isaiah Crawford).
LA Tech outscored UTSA, 22-4, on points from turnovers and 54-16 on points in the paint.
LA Tech heads to the east coast to battle Charlotte on Saturday, Dec. 31. The New Year’s Eve showdown will tipoff at 1 p.m. CT and be live streamed on ESPN+.
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Lady Techsters 62, UTSA 57
Lotte Sant tied her career-high with five three-pointers and Keiunna Walker scored 20 points before departing late with cramps to lead LA Tech to a 62-57 road win over UTSA at the Convocation Center.
Playing without all-conference forward Anna Larr Roberson, Tech (8-4, 1-1) overcame plenty of adversity and as much as a six-point second half deficit to win.
Tech hit 16-of-18 free throws, including 8-of-9 in the decisive fourth quarter that saw the Lady Techsters outscored UTSA 18-10.
Salma Bates added 12 points and Amaya Brannon 10 in the win.
The Lady Techsters host Charlotte Saturday at 2 p.m.
