LA Tech overpowers Union, 103-58, in exhibition

RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech men’s basketball team was back inside the Thomas Assembly Center and put on a scoring clinic in the exhibition game against Union with five players scoring in double figures in route to a 103-58 victory on Thursday night.

Not only did the five score in double figures, they all scored at least 15 points, led by the guard duo of Amorie Archibald and Ra’Shawn Langston who each had 19 while going 7-of-9 from the field apiece.

Meanwhile, on the defensive end LA Tech forced 17 turnovers, recorded eight blocks and eight steals and clamped down on Union in the second half to run away with the 45-point win in the TAC.

“It is great being back,” head coach Eric Konkol said. “We have terrific fans and the band was spectacular, bringing a lot of life to the arena. I knew we were going to play a team in Union who could really shoot the ball. I thought we had a good beginning of the game in limiting those, but in the last of the first half we let them get comfortable. That was the major thing we addressed at halftime and I was pleased with the way we responded defensively in the second half.”

The home Bulldogs erupted at the start, scoring the first eight points in the opening 75 seconds which was capped off by one of Archibald’s four three-pointers, to force a timeout by the visiting Bulldogs.

While holding an 11-6 edge in the early going, LA Tech then went on a 12-0 run with triples from Archibald and Langston included. That lead got even bigger, reaching 36-11 midway through the first half.

However, Union started showing how well they could shoot the basketball. They finished the half making six of seven from deep and slicing the deficit down to 15 (52-37) at halftime.

The point of emphasis in the locker room for LA Tech was perimeter defense and to stop Tyree Boykin who had 17 first-half points. They did both.

Union was 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in the second half and Boykin tacked on just four more points. On the offensive side, LA Tech continued to score in bunches. One of those scorers was Mubarak Muhammed who finished with a double-double of 16 points and a game-high 10 boards in just 17 minutes of action.

Another scoring threat was Anthony Duruji who stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. The final home Bulldog in double figures was DaQuan Bracey who got to the rim at will to the tune of 15 points to go along with seven dimes and zero turnovers.

“We want to have great balance,” Konkol said. “We want to score inside and outside, on the break and in the half court. We want it to come from multiple guys. We don’t want it to be just one guy that has to carry us. We hope that this continues the rest of the season.”

LA Tech ended up shooting 39-of-65 from the field (60 percent) and 9-of-22 from deep (41 percent). They also won big on the glass with a 49-24 rebounding edge, nine of those coming from JaColby Pemberton off the bench.

Union shot 18-of-59 from the field for 31 percent and 8-of-21 from three for 38 percent. Boykin, the reigning GSC Freshman of the Year, ended the night with a game-high 21 points. Teammate Tylandrius Parks added 14.

LA Tech will now turn its attention to the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at Wichita State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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