Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
BULLDOGS
Louisiana Tech and Jacksonville State went down to the wire for the season time this season, and again the Bulldogs suffered a two-point loss to the Gamecocks, falling by a final score of 70-68 on Saturday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
LA Tech (17-9, 6-7 CUSA) found itself down by nine with 2:44 to go but got it to within one point on three separate occasions. A halfcourt heave by Kaden Cooper with a couple of seconds remaining was off the mark, giving league-leader Jax State (18-8, 10-3 CUSA) the series sweep.
“We came with effort today and gave ourselves a chance,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “But, I don’t think we played with maturity in a lot of different ways. I thought in the first half when we got a lead and started to pull away, we got a little selfish. Guys started doing their own thing, which decreased out lead. Then we started turning the ball over and took some selfish shots against their zone.
“In the second half, we adjusted for the negative. We would set things in the wrong place or move differently. We were not being as patient as we were in the first half. We had a great start to our season but somewhere down the line things have changed, and we have started to separate. I have to find a way to get this team back together.”
The Bulldogs had the momentum in the first half, using a 12-0 run to take a 25-17 lead while forcing a timeout by the Gamecocks. The run was provided mostly by Amaree Abram who buried two three-pointers and made two tough buckets at the rim for 10 of his 16 points.
The lead got to as much as nine with 6:33 to go in the first half following three straight points by Will Allen, but the Gamecocks responded with a 9-0 run to tie the game up at 28-28. Two more ties followed before Jordan Crawford sank a three from the top of the arc to give the ‘Dogs a 36-33 advantage going into the locker room.
LA Tech was not as successful on offense in the second half, scoring just 10 points in the first 11 minutes of the stanza. Meanwhile, one of the top scorers in the country Jaron Pierre Jr. anchored Jax State as the visitors pulled ahead and started to pull away.
Pierre Jr. strung together seven straight points for the Gamecocks, giving them a 10-point cushion with 5:51 remaining in the game. Jax State lived at the foul line the remainder of the game (last 15 points of the contest were free throws)
Meanwhile, Daniel Batcho started to come alive again scoring eight of his team-high 19 during the late stretch. It was a fastbreak layup by Abram that got the ‘Dogs within one point with 35 ticks remaining.
While Pierre Jr. tallied 34 points, it was Quel’Ron House making six consecutive free throws in the final 30 seconds that kept the Gamecocks ahead for good.
LA Tech shot a better percentage from the field (42.9 percent) and from three-point range (41.2 percent), but Jax State took 12 more free throws (made 26 of their 30 attempts at the charity stripe).
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WOMEN
Robyn Lee became the 45th Lady Techster to score 1,000 points in her career against Jacksonville State. However, that was not enough, as LA Tech fell 68-55 Saturday afternoon in the Pete Mathews Coliseum.
“The response today was not one we wanted to see to close out the road trip,” said head coach Brooke Stoehr. “We didn’t compete with the effort and concentration we needed to or expect from this group.
“When we miss easy shots around the rim or don’t run to correct spots in transition, we have to fight that much harder to get an offensive board or find a way to get a stop on the other end. We have to find a way to get this group playing with the fight and effort they’re capable of consistently.”
Louisiana Tech (13-11, 6-7 CUSA) didn’t score until a minute and a half to go in the first quarter off two Paris Bradley free throws. After an Autumn Smith three 30 seconds later, the Lady Techsters only trailed 15-5 to Jacksonville State (10-14, 4-9) at the end of one.
Lee came into the game needing just two points to reach the milestone. On Tech’s first possession of the second quarter, the grad student drove to the left and pulled up from just outside the block to get what she needed.
A Bradley layup would be the only other basket for the Techsters in the first half. Tech would shoot 9-10 from the charity stripe to only be down 34-18 heading into the locker room.
The second half went in the favor of the Lady Techsters 37-34. However, every time LA Tech cut into the lead, JSU would respond.
Louisiana Tech finished 12-48 from the field and 5-19 from long range. The Lady Techsters got to the free throw line 34 times and connected on 26. Jianna Morris led the way with 16 points, 12 in the third quarter. Paris Bradley added 14, and Jordan Marshall finished with 11 rebounds.
Jax State shot 18-54 from the field, 8-31 from behind the arc, and 24-26 from the charity stripe. Valentina Saric finished with 19 points on 6-11 shooting from three. Asia Barclay had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards.
