by Malcolm Butler
Sean Newman is old school.
The Louisiana Tech junior point guard thinks pass first, pass second, and then sometimes shot third.
On Monday night in the Thomas Assembly Center, Newman played a little out of character as the Los Angeles native scored a career-high 25 points to lift Louisiana Tech to a 74-66 win over defending WAC champion Grand Canyon.
Newman, who also recorded nine assists in the game, hit 8-of-16 field goals, 3-of-6 three-pointers and 6-of-8 free throws as he surpassed his previous career-high of 19 points set against WKU last season.
With Tech (10-2) clinging to a 65-64 lead with three minutes to play, Newman saved some of his best for last. With the shot clock running down, he drained a 25-foot 3-pointer to push the advantage to 68-64 with 2:44 to play.
After GCU’s Jakobe Coles cut the deficit to 68-66 with a pair of free throws, Newman drove down the lane and hit a tough layup in traffic with 1:13 remaining to make it 70-66.
On the following possession, he drove into the lane and fed Kaden Cooper with an ally-oop pass that Cooper threw home for the exclamation mark. Newman then added two free throws with 11 seconds to play to seal the victory.
“He is the point of attack,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “Him being the point of attack helps everybody. He still spread the ball around with nine assists.
“He knew he had to score tonight because they were playing off of him. They were trying to take the lob away from Batcho. He knew he had the opportunity to go to the rim and get some baskets. We were excited about that opportunity.”
In a game that saw seven lead changes and six ties, Tech used an early 13-0 run to grab an 11-point advantage as the Bulldogs connected on their first five shots of the game, including three three-pointers.
However, Daniel Batcho was called for his second foul of the first half with 12 minutes remaining before halftime and the preseason CUSA Player of the Year sat for the rest of the half. With Batcho on the bench, GCU pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and converted them into 20 second chance points to give the Lopes a 33-32 halftime lead.
“When Batcho is on the floor, we are better,” said Hester. “After that second foul, we took him out of the game. But I give kudos to Will Allen and Sean Elkinton for coming in and keeping the game close and helping us out.”
Tech took the lead for good early in the second half as Newman hit a jumper to put the Bulldogs up 41-39 with 15:40 to play. With the Bulldogs leading 47-46 with 11 minutes to play, Tech used a 12-0 run highlighted by three-pointers by Amaree Abram and Newman and a pair of dunks by Batcho to extend the advantage to 59-46 with 7:41 to play.
GCU would eventually whittle the deficit back down to one, setting up the final three minutes where the Bulldogs were able to execute for the win.
“The stops is what got us the win,” said Hester. “They came down and we got two stops and made them miss. Once we made them miss we were patient on offense. I thought that’s what gave us the chance to win.”
Batcho added 19 points and seven rebounds while Abram scored 15 points, including 3-of-6 from the three-point line.
Tech will host Rusk College Saturday at 3 p.m. in the final non-conference contest of the season.
