LA Tech takes wild one in Miami over FIU

MIAMI – In an extreme tale of two halves, Louisiana Tech held off FIU on Saturday night in an 86-82 victory inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

Both teams struggled to score in the first half as LA Tech (17-6, 8-3 C-USA) held a 30-25 advantage over FIU (13-10, 3-7 C-USA) at the midway point.

The game completely flipped in the second half. It was like playing NBA Jam on Nintendo and the ball was on fire. For both teams.

But, every time the Panthers drained a shot from 25 feet out or got an alley-oop dunk to ignite the crowd, the Bulldogs had an answer. When the Panthers cut it to one at 49-48, Keaston Willis and David Green answered with back-to-back threes.

When FIU cut it to within one point again at 62-61, it was Kenneth Lofton, Jr. who had the answer this time. He sparked a quick 8-0 run to force the home team to call a timeout.

FIU made another run, and another, and another, cutting the deficit to one yet again at 80-79 with 45 seconds left. But it was Junior again who finished with an old-fashioned three-pointer play to go back up four. And in a half that have very little defensive stops, the Bulldogs got a couple of them in the closing seconds – steal by Exavian Christon and Junior pulling down his 13th rebound on the other.

LA Tech needed 56 second-half points to come away with its first victory at FIU since 2000. They shot 63 percent in the second stanza and 47.5 percent for the entire game. Lofton, Jr. and Archibald both scored a team-high 21 points followed closely by Willis who had 19.

FIU shot 62.9 percent in the second half and 50.0 for the entire game, getting double-digit scoring by four different Panthers. Eric Lovett scored a game-high 25 points.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Eric Konkol

“It was an amazing game. What a tale of two halves. It was such a grinder in the first half when I thought we played really good defense and made things difficult for FIU. I thought in the second half we played pretty solid defense. I just thought that the shot-making from FIU and us was at another level. The ball felt like it was on fire for both teams. So many guys contributed for us. This was a big-time win.”

NOTABLES
• With the 86-82 win, LA Tech now leads the all-time series over FIU, 9-7. The Bulldogs have won three straight over the Panthers.
• The Bulldogs picked up their first victory over the Panthers in Miami since 2000, snapping their four-game losing skid inside Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
• LA Tech scored 56 second-half points, the most in any half this season against a Division I opponent.
• Amorie Archibald made his 79th consecutive start (129th of his career).
• Kenneth Lofton, Jr. registered his 14th double-double of the season (fifth straight). He also recorded a career-high seven assists, coming just three assists shy of a triple-double.
• Kenneth Lofton, Jr. finished with 21 points, his seventh 20-point scoring game of the season. He also tallied a game-high 13 rebounds, eclipsing 10 boards for the ninth time in the last 10 games.
• Amorie Archibald matched Lofton with 21 points, the fourth time this season he has scored at least 20 in a game.
• Amorie Archibald moved into 16th on the all-time career scoring list. He now has 1,526 career points.
• Keaston Willis registered 19 points, making a team-high five-three pointers to give him 62 on the season. He has made at least four three-pointers in seven games this season.

UP NEXT
LA Tech wraps up its three-game road swing on Thursday, Feb. 10 when they travel to take on Charlotte. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast by Stadium.

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