Late run fuels FIU to home win over LA Tech, 75-69

MIAMI – It sounds like a broken record, but Louisiana Tech was in yet another close battle late in the game on the road.

The undermanned Bulldogs stumbled down the stretch though as FIU used a late run to take the 75-69 win on Saturday night inside Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

LA Tech’s (15-9, 5-6 C-USA) bench was even shorter against FIU (14-9, 5-5 C-USA) as promising freshman Stacey Thomas was out due to an injury suffered in the previous outing.

The Bulldogs still held a two-point advantage with four minutes to go against the Panthers. However, they made just one of their last 10 shot attempts. There were also two crucial turnovers after coughing the ball up just 10 times prior to that against the No. 1 team in the country in forcing turnovers.

“I thought there were opportunities for us on both sides of the floor,” head coach Eric Konkol said. “We have got to find a way to improve on it with real toughness moments of a key stop here or a key box out. You can’t let the moment become bigger. It is just about locking into the possession. We have to improve on that.”

LA Tech had a solid first half, breaking the daunting FIU press with ease and knocking down numerous jump shots. They ended up shooting 50 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes, getting 13 points from DaQuan Bracey to help give them a 40-35 advantage at halftime.

“I thought our guys were ready,” Konkol said. “We were really in attack mode on both sides of the ball. We were active. We did not have that late. The game tempo took on a different life. We got some good looks. I thought we attacked the glass hard, but we came up short.”

FIU came out in a zone to start the second stanza and sat it in while the Bulldogs struggled to score against it. LA Tech made just seven points through the first eight minutes of the period, allowing the Panthers to take a 50-47 lead with 11:52 to go.

Despite the 10 combined three-pointers by FIU’s Trejon Jacob and Willy Nunez, Jr., the ‘Dogs were able to withstand them and grab a 66-64 lead going into the final media timeout thanks to five straight points from Amorie Archibald.

LA Tech would miss its next nine field goal attempts while FIU ended the game on an 11-3 run, denying the Bulldogs their first conference road win of the season.

Anthony Duruji was in attack mode all night, recording his second double-double with a team-high 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Bracey scored just two points in the second half to finish with 15. Archibald was the third Bulldog in double-figures with 11 and Mubarak Muhammed grabbed a career-high 11 boards off the bench.

The team finished 28-of-70 from the field (40 percent) and 8-of-27 from beyond the arc (30 percent).

FIU shot 41 percent from the field (29-70) and 39 percent from downtown (12-31), led by Jacob who tallied 24 points.

LA Tech will close out a three-game road stretch on Saturday, Feb. 9 when they travel to take on travel partner Southern Miss. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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