Balanced offensive charge sparks LA Tech to 83-65 win over Charlotte

RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech tied a season-high with 14 three-pointers, saw five players score in double-digits and never trailed, en route to an 83-65 triumph over the visiting Charlotte 49ers Thursday evening from the Thomas Assembly Center.

For the ninth time this season, LA Tech (15-10, 6-6 C-USA) knocked down 10 or more threes, led by three each for Jacobi Boykins and Derric Jean, and two apiece for DaQuan Bracey and Anthony Duruji.

Early on, Charlotte (5-17, 1-10 C-USA) knotted the game at two, but an ensuing 22-5 run for Tech, buoyed by nine points from Bracey, ensured the point differential would not slip below double digits the rest of the way.

“I thought we got off to a good start on the offensive end and the defensive end,” Tech head coach Eric Konkol noted. “I thought that in the first parts of the game, we were really able to clamp down and make some things difficult.”

Getting off to a quick start seemed to be Konkol’s pregame message to the team, as Tech lit up the nets, hitting on nine of their first 11 attempts and four of their first five attempts from behind the long line.

The Bulldog defense also stepped up in a big way early on, holding the 49ers to just 35.7 percent shooting in the first half.

Bracey, who finished with a team high 17 points, was an integral part of building Tech’s lead in the first half, as he went 5-for-5 from the field. Not to be outdone, teammate Oliver Powell also hit the halftime locker room with a perfect 5-for-5 ledger next to his name.

Leading by 12 coming out of the break, Tech quickly built its advantage to its largest of the evening at 23 after a thunderous Boykins fast break dunk. However, after the play, the lone senior Bulldog was whistled for his second technical of the game and was ejected.

The series seemed to spark the Charlotte offense, as they put together a quick 10-0 run forcing a Bulldog timeout.

However, the home team regrouped and held Charlotte at arm’s length for the remainder of the contest, outscoring the visitors by five the rest of the way.

Freshman point guard Amorie Archibald continued to build upon his “sharing is caring” ways, and racked up a game-high nine assists in 32 minutes of action.

Charlotte’s lone bright spot of the evening was guard Jon Davis, who finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-19 shooting, to go along with eight assists.
“[Jon] Davis is a talented guard,” Konkol added. “We really wanted to shut down some of his early transition baskets and some of the things he can create for his teammates. Offensively, we were able to share the basketball and that really continued for most of the game.”

Tech assisted on 23 of its 31 made field goals on the night, while committing only six turnovers as a team. The ‘Dogs turned Charlotte over 14 times, while capitalizing on 18 points off those miscues, and held the visitors to a 40.4 percent shooting clip. The Tech bench outscored Charlotte 34-10 in the wire-to-wire victory.

Tech will look to continue its winning ways from the friendly confines of the Thomas Assembly Center on Saturday, hosting Old Dominion in the second game of four straight at home. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game can be streamed live on Facebook through Stadium.

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