Boxscore

Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap picked up where he left off last season as the Bulldogs took a hard fought 83-76 exhibition win over Ouachita Baptist Monday at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Millsap, who led the NCAA in rebounding last season as a freshman, led the way for Tech with 23 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots as Tech won its exhibition opener. The Bulldogs will play another exhibition next Monday against VASDA before opening the season on Nov. 19 against Louisiana-Lafayette at the LSU Louisiana Classic Tournament.

Tech led Ouachita Baptist 44-35 at the half after the Bulldogs hit on 53.3 percent (16-30) of their shots in the opening stanza. The Tigers? aggressive play slowed Tech somewhat in the second half, as the Bulldogs hit on only 34.5 percent (10-29) of their shots after intermission.

?We knew it?d be a good test,? Tech coach Keith Richard said. ?They won 19 games last season and we knew they were quick and could shoot it. It?s a good thing, because they?re like a smaller version of Louisiana-Lafayette, who we open the season against.?

The big find for the Bulldogs was the play of Daevon Haskins, who established himself as Tech?s first starting true point guard in a number of seasons. Haskins scored 11 points, made five steals and dished off eight assists for the Bulldogs.

?I thought the play of Daevon Haskins was very encouraging,? Richard said. ?He showed he can help us both offensively and defensively.?

Haskins hit on 2-of-6 shots from the floor and 7-of-12 free throw attempts and said he was satisfied with his opening performance.

?Ouachita Baptist was quick,? Haskins said. ?Coach Richard told us they?d come out hard and aggressive, and they did. That was probably good for us, though.

?Coach Richard has made it easy for me because he has confidence in me and that gives me confidence in my self. I missed too many free throws tonight. I need to make more of those. And we need to work on our defense, but all in all, this was a good first exhibition game and a good win.?

Richard said he was pleased with his team?s effort throughout the contest.

?I thought our team played hard for the first exhibition game,? Richard said. ?They played hard the whole 40 minutes, and you don?t always see that in your first exhibition. We?ve got some work to do on defense, but it?s just exciting and a little different for us to have this kind of offense.?

Senior forward Wayne Powell added 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for the Bulldogs while Donell Allick rounded out Tech?s double-figure scorers with 11 points and five rebounds.

David Mercer hit on 8-of-14 shots from the field, including three 3-pointers, to lead OBU with 25 points while Kennis Green added 18 points for the Tigers.

Kevin White was the top man on the boards for OBU with 11 rebounds and added 12 points.