Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
College basketball can be cruel.
Four days after falling to a buzzer beater, Louisiana Tech suffered a 79-73 overtime loss to Seattle U on late Wednesday night inside the Redhawk Center.
“I saw a lot of ups and downs from this ball club tonight,” said head coach Talvin Hester. “We came out very sluggish. We have to get back to hard practices. Then when we started to fight, we got back into the game. Then we showed some immaturity late, giving up a 4-point play in overtime, an offensive rebound. And down the stretch, we could not make all of our free throws. Those kinds of things help you win ball games.”
And just like four days ago, LA Tech (9-4) came out a little sluggish as SU (7-5) went on an early 12-0 run to take 17-6 lead. The Bulldogs could not buy a bucket, making only three of their first 14 shot attempts.
They started to find their groove though in the latter half of the first stanza, making nine of their last 15 field goals. The ‘Dogs tied it up on two separate occasions, including at 29-29 with 1:17 left before halftime, but the Redhawks produced a 5-0 spurt to take a 34-29 edge into the locker room.
LA Tech had its best stretch of basketball coming out for the second half, going on a 12-0 run its own to build as much as a 48-40 lead with 12:20 to play in regulation. And a lot of the damage was done in the paint by Daniel Batcho and Isaiah Crawford who combined for 42 points, 30 rebounds, and seven blocks.
“Daniel did not show up until the second half,” said Hester. “He had five turnovers in the first half. I am challenging him to be great because he is a great young man with great talent and potential. I think he is better than what he even showed tonight.”
SU sliced its deficit down to one at 53-52, but a made jumper by Crawford and a three-pointer by Sean Newman Jr. (just the fourth all night for the Bulldogs) pushed the visiting team’s lead back out to 58-52 with 4:56 left in the second half.
That would be the last made field goal for the ‘Dogs in the stanza. Meanwhile, the Redhawks chipped away primarily at the foul line, which is a play they took 29 attempts. Two of those came with 6.8 seconds left when the referee called a foul before an in-bounds with LA Tech clinging to a 2-point lead.
Cameron Tyson made both, plus 11 others in the game to help him score 33 for the night. Crawford went the length of the court and attempted a running jumper in the lane, but the shot rimmed out sending the game into overtime at 63-all.
SU ended up outscoring LA Tech, 16-10 in overtime. The Redhawks took as much as a 4-point lead, but Batcho refused to be denied as he scored eight of the ‘Dogs 10 OT points. Newman Jr.’s driving layup tied the game up at 73-73 with 55 seconds to go in the extra frame.
Seattle U ended the game on a 6-0 run though, getting second-chance points on a made jumper by John Christofilis and four more free throws.
Batcho finished with career highs in points (24) and rebounds (16), plus a season-tying four blocks, for his sixth double-double of the season. Crawford picked up his first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 14 boards, plus a career-tying three blocks.
SU was held to 37.5 percent shooting from the field, making just 24 field goals for the game, but nine of those came from beyond the arc. The Redhawks also knocked down 22 free throws.
