Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech rolled to its fifth consecutive win, scoring 62 first-half points in route to a 105-65 pounding of Dillard on Saturday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
There was plenty of offense to go around for LA Tech (5-1) who set a season high with 39 made field goals, 12 of those coming from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Bulldogs pulled down a season-high 45 rebounds and generated a season-tying 15 steals.
“I am really proud of our team,” said head coach Talvin Hester. “Three wins in five days. I thought we started off on the right foot. We did back our pressure off a little bit, seeing if we could execute some things. We played a deep bench and saw some good things from our guys. I am excited where we are at right now.”
It did not take long for LA Tech to jump on Dillard (3-4) as Daniel Batcho scored the first points of a 10-0 run to start the contest. It was not until the 16:41 mark that the Bleu Devils got on the scoreboard.
The three-pointers started to pile on after that. The Bulldogs made eight of them in the span of seven minutes. There were also two different stretches where LA Tech made seven straight and nine straight field goals, building a 51-18 lead after Isaiah Crawford stole his fourth ball and dunked it in transition with 6:36 to go in the first half.
“More than growth, it has been belief,” said Hester. “They are believing in some of the things we have been talking about since July. They believe we can get to where we dream of going. We are growing to know who we are as a team. I think we can build on this and get better.”
He made a layup in the paint to give the ‘Dogs 62 points for the first half, the most in a single half in almost 10 years. On the other end, the Bleu Devils managed just 25 first-half points.
The second half was occupied by the bench for the most part, which contributed a total of 67 points on the day. All 14 Bulldogs saw action with 10 of them seeing at least 10 minutes.
Devin Ree provided the most points with a career-high 21. Jaylin Henderson (12) and Jordan Turner (10) also tallied double-digit points off the bench. The other double-figure scorers included Batcho who had 17 points and a career-high 14 boards in just 13 minutes played. Tahlik Chavez was the fifth such Bulldog, tallying 12 points while going a perfect 3-of-3 from long range.
Dillard’s Tory Caro and Justin Warren did the bulk of the scoring for the Bleu Devils, scoring 18 and 12 points, respectively. The visiting team shot just 36.1 percent from the field.
Tech will travel to face New Mexico Wednesday with tipoff at The Pit set for 8 p.m. CT.
