Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech picked up its fourth straight win on Tuesday night, leading wire-to-wire for an 89-60 victory over Southeastern inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
LA Tech (9-2) was dominant for 40 minutes. On offense, they drained a season-high 14 three-pointers led by Tahlik Chavez who continued to stay hot by knocking down six triples in route to a game-high 22 points. And on defense, they held their eighth opponent of the season to under 38 percent shooting.
“The emphasis was on our defense and playing for 40 minutes,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “We have had an issue coming out slow in the second half, letting teams eliminate leads on us. Another thing was not closing out games the right way, missing free throws, taking errant shots that we should not take.
“I thought we did everything right tonight. There were times that Southeastern hit some shots, but this is Division I basketball, you are not going to hold a team to nothing. They are a good team.”
The Bulldogs jumped all over the Lions, starting the game on an 8-0 run, including threes by Chavez and Isaiah Crawford, which quickly forced a timeout by SLU (2-8).
The Lions tried to hang around, keeping their deficit in the single digits at 24-15 after a three-point play by Avery Wilson with 9:30 to go in the first half. However, back-to-back threes by Chavez and Devin Ree made a double-digit advantage again for LA Tech, something that would stay that way for the remainder.
“I knew Tahlik would start making them,” said Hester. “You cannot keep a shooter like him from making shots. We have good shooters. We just got open shots tonight. A lot of them were in transition, a lot were when we got paint touches and moved the ball. The testament of our three-point shooting was our ball movement. We made the next right pass.”
Crawford drained his third three-pointer of the night, this one from the logo with 27 seconds left, to give the ‘Dogs a 44-27 edge at halftime. And the home team kept their foot on the gas in the second half with Chavez hitting three more triples in the first five minutes of the stanza.
LA Tech shot 46.3 percent from the field (31-67), 53.8 percent from beyond the arc (14-26), and 72.2 percent from the foul line (13-18). Crawford tallied 14 points to go along with seven boards, four assists, four steals, and two blocks. Tyler Henry was the third Bulldog in double figures with 11 points.
Dravon Mangum flirted with a double-double with nine points and eight boards while Daniel Batcho added nine points and six boards of his own. Also getting in on the action was Sean Newman Jr., making his return to the court after missing three games due to an ankle injury, scoring eight points plus five assists.
“It felt great,” said Newman. “Blessed to be back out on the floor. I was itching to get back out there. Our athletic trainers, our coaching staff, they instilled the confidence in me. And my teammates who believe and trust in me. The game definitely looks slower when you are watching from the sidelines. You are seeing the things coaches are saying in practice. There were a number of things I learned while watching.”
SLU shot 37.7 percent from the field (23-61), getting a team-high 16 points from Alec Woodard and 13 points from Nick Caldwell.
