Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Isaiah Crawford reached 1,000 career points and the Bulldogs reached the century mark as Louisiana Tech took care of Lyon College by a final score of 100-43 on Monday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
“I am proud of the way we locked in defensively,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “To be who we need to be regardless of who the opponent is, we have to keep fighting for our goals defensively. There were some things we needed to do defensively. We needed to get back in transition and not give up easy layups. We needed to guard the ball and keep people out of the paint. I think we ultimately did that.”
Crawford, playing in his fifth year at LA Tech (1-1), came into the contest needing just 13 points to become the 45th member of the club. He got that and more, scoring 21 in helping the Bulldogs claim their first victory of the 2023-24 season.
“I was here at the start and I got to be here for him reaching 1,000 points,” said Hester. “You watch him and he is so quiet in what he does, but you look up and he has 10 in the first half. And then in the second half, he has another 11 points. You have to give him the freedom to who he is. I think he knows what he can do to contribute to our team, but I do not think he realizes the kind of career he has had.”
Helping the Fort Worth, Texas native in the scoring department were a pair of new teammates who came off the bench to contribute (61 points came from non-starters). One was Jaylin Henderson who anchored the squad in total points for a second straight game, this time with 24. The other was Devin Ree who drilled five triples in route to 18 points.
“I told him right before our first game of the season that (Jaylin) has been an unbelievable surprise for us,” said Hester. “In recruiting you need some skill, some hard work, and a little bit of luck. Luck was on our side when we got Jaylin Henderson. I think he is just peaking to who he can become.”
In fact, it was Ree’s solo run – 11 straight points – midway through the first half that first allowed the ‘Dogs to pull away from Lyon College (1-3). His third straight three put LA Tech up, 27-8, with 9:28 to play before halftime while forcing a timeout by the Scots.
The home team ended up having a 45-21 edge at intermission, allowing their opponents to make just seven field goals while forcing nine turnovers. LA Tech continued to apply defensive pressure during the second 20 minutes, forcing another 14 while growing its lead to the max when Henderson knocked down two free throws with seven ticks remaining to put the Bulldogs at 100 points for the night.
Dravon Mangum was the fourth Bulldog in double figures with 11 points to go along with a game-high 10 boards for his second career double-double. As a team, the ‘Dogs shot 52.1 percent from the field (38-73) and 38.7 percent from beyond the arc (12-31).
They dominated in other facets as well, holding a +11 rebounding margin (44-33) while dishing out 23 assists to only six turnovers committed. Seven of those assists came from point guard Sean Newman Jr.
Lyon College shot just 15-of-48 from the field (21.3 percent) and 3-of-13 from downtown (23.1 percent). The highest scorer for the Scots was Jackson Midyett who had six points off the bench.
