Bulldogs struggle defensively, fall to Blue Hens

NEWARK, Delaware – The Louisiana Tech men’s basketball team was very efficient on offense against the zone of Delaware, but the Bulldogs’ defensive woes was too much to overcome as they narrowly fell to the Blue Hens 75-71 on Monday night inside the Bob Carpenter Center.

Offensively, LA Tech (4-3) shot 47 percent from beyond the arc which included eight three-pointers. They were also a perfect 11-of-11 from the foul line. Unfortunately, Delaware (5-2) had just as much success on offense, regaining the lead down the stretch to seal it.

“We did not pack our defense on this trip,” head coach Eric Konkol said post game. “I told the guys in the locker room, it is really a gut check. We have got to know what is important and what is important is defending for a full clock, finishing the play with either a turnover or a rebound. When we needed it most, we just did not get the stops.”

From a score standpoint, the game was much like that of Saturday night when the Bulldogs trailed by only one or two possessions for the majority of time.

The ‘Dogs built as much as a five-point lead (21-16) on one of sophomore Amorie Archibald’s three triples midway through the first half, but the Blue Hens quickly responded with five straight points and eventually took the lead at 26-25 with 4:12 to and held the lead for the rest for the rest of the first stanza and for over 12 minutes into the second stanza.

This time, LA Tech was able to string together a few much-needed stops and made them count on the offensive end. Down two, senior Derric Jean drilled one of his four three-pointers to help give the Bulldogs a lead at 57-56 with 7:18 to play.

After getting a stop on Delaware’s next offensive possession, Jean pushed the ball up the floor and made a gorgeous bounce pass to junior Oliver Powell who made the fastbreak layup which forced a Blue Hens timeout.

However, a technical foul called on sophomore Anthony Duruji during the break ultimately resulted in a five-point swing for Delaware who sank the two free throws and got a corner three-pointer from Matt Veretto right as the shot clock expired.

“It was big,” Konkol said in reference to the technical. “It gave one of our starters four fouls and it gave Delaware points. You don’t want to have self-induced errors. The game got heated. We were able to take a lead, but we have to let the opponent unravel and not us. There was a moment there that we did. In that moment in time, it hurt us.”

Powell was able to make another contested layup to tie it at 61-61 with 5:38 to go, but the Bulldogs had trouble stopping Delaware, in particular Eric Carter, who made five of his team-high 23 points over the next three minutes of action when the Blue Hens scored on four straight possessions.

LA Tech set a new season high in all three shooting phases – from the field (26-of-47 for 55 percent), from three-point range (8-of-17 for 47 percent) and from the charity stripe (11-of-11 for 100 percent). Powell (14), Archibald (13) and Jean (12) were the three Bulldogs in double figures in scoring.

Delaware shot the same exact clip from the field, going 26-of-47 for 55 percent. Carter finished with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds.

LA Tech will return to the Thomas Assembly Center for its next game which comes against Houston Baptist on Saturday, Dec. 1. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.

For all the latest in Bulldog Basketball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechHoops), Instagram (@LATechHoops) and Facebook (LATechMBB) or visit the official website at LATechSports.com.