FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Nov. 17) - Foul trouble and a tough Southern Mississippi team prevented Louisiana Tech from obtaining a win in the Bulldogs season opener in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge Classic as the Golden Eagles prevailed at Bud Walton Arena on the campus of the University of Arkansas by a 70-63 score on Friday night.
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| Louisiana Tech's Nick Stamps (14) drives around Southern Mississippi's Brad Richardson, right, during the first round of the John Thompson Foundation Challenge Classic at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday, Nov. 17, 2000. (AP Photo/April L. Brown) |
The Bulldogs battled back from a five-point halftime disadvantage to take a brief lead in the second half but could not overcome the Golden Eagles. Gerrod Henderson led the Bulldogs with 19 points but fouled out with 3:50 remaining in the contest. Tech hung strong and a three pointer by Marco Cole made it a 60-56 USM lead with 2:15 left but the Golden Eagles held on for the victory.
Tech plays the Arkansas-Tennessee State loser in the consolation game at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
"We are not mature enough right now to win a game at the end like Southern Mississippi and that was the difference in the game," Louisiana Tech head coach Keith Richard said. Brad Richardson came off the bench for USM and scored 22 to pace USM to the victory.
The Bulldogs trailed by five points at halftime but quickly began to whittle away at the USM lead.
Louisiana Tech cut the Golden Eagle lead to 38-36 on a breakaway lay-up by Henderson after a steal by Travis Lewis with 15:00 left in the game.
The Bulldogs took the lead at the 11:55 mark with short jumper by Antonio Meeking to make the score 41-40. Richardson pulled up on the other end for a short jumper giving the Golden Eagles the lead right back at 42-41.
"The offensive rebounds really hurt us," Richard said. Meeking tied the score with 8:48 left with two free throws making score 45-45.
A steal by Henderson and a three pointer in transition by Nick Stamps gave the Bulldogs a 48-45 lead with 8:27 remaining in the game. "I was really encouraged by the younger guys. Meeking and Henderson are the only ones who really played for us last season," Richard said.
Meeking scored 18 points in the contest for the Bulldogs. Richardson once again answered for USM with a trey of his own to tie the game at 48-48.
David Wall hit a 10-foot jumper to give the Golden Eagles the lead back at 50-48.
Another basket by Wall and a steal and lay-up by Brad Richardson put USM back up by six at 54-48 with 5:17 remaining in the contest. "We really need to come out of this with at least one win. We played well enough to beat a lot of teams tonight," Richard added.
The first half saw both teams struggle to have much success on the offensive end of the court as Southern Mississippi took a 33-28 halftime lead over Louisiana Tech.
The teams warmed up a bit in the closing minutes of the half but USM shot 39% in the opening 20 minutes while the Bulldogs made 36% of their field goal attempts in the first half.
Tech got off to a good start but a cold spell at the halfway point of the half allowed the Golden Eagles to come from behind and take the lead to the lockerroom at the half.
Southern Mississippi went on an 18-1 run midway through the first half to take a 24-14 lead with 6:00 left in the opening half of play. A pair of three pointers by sophomore Brian Martin cut into the Golden Eagle and pulled the Bulldogs to within 28-23 at the three-minute mark.
Tech went out to a 13-6 helped by a hot start by Henderson and Meeking.
Meeking picked up his third foul at the 13:20 mark of the first half and this hurt the Bulldogs the rest of the opening twenty minutes.
The Bulldogs led by at 13-6 score at this point in the game. USM closed to 13-12 a the nine minute mark and took their first lead with a three pointer by Brad Richardson seconds later to make the score 15-13.
