Boxscore HONOLULU -- Finally the ball bounced Louisiana Tech's way.
Wayne Powell's rebound and follow-up basket with 3.6 seconds remaining broke a four-game losing streak for Louisiana Tech Saturday as the Bulldogs took a 61-59 win over Hawaii before 7,706 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Louisiana Tech climbed to 7-8 overall and 2-4 in the Western Athletic Conference while Hawaii fell to 10-3 and 2-3.
The game was tied at 59-59 with 38 seconds left as Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard called a timeout, sat his team down on the bench and told them to make sure to be patient and take the last shot to either give the Bulldogs the win or send the game into overtime.
Tech worked the ball around the basket before
Corey Dean drove for the basket and launched a running jumper that bounced off the top of the backboard. Fortunately for Tech, the ball bounced to the left side of the rim, right into Powell's hands.
The senior forward grabbed the rebound before Hawaii's Matt Gibson could get to it and then banked a shot off the backboard and into the bucket with 3.6 seconds remaining as the Bulldogs raced back to get set defensively.
After a Hawaii timeout Rainbow Warriors forward Julian Sensley launched the ball from just across the midcourt line at the buzzer, but the shot fell short as the Bulldogs celebrated a win for the first time in 2005.
"Corey took the ball to the basket and when it missed, it came right to me," Powell said. "We had worked hard and knew we needed this win. We weren't going to let this one get away."
The Bulldogs had been coming off a disappointing one-point loss at San Jose State last Thursday, and in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Louisiana Tech badly needed a win.
"I'm really proud of this team and their effort was just great," Richard said. "It was so much better than Thursday at San Jose. We needed that kind of effort to get this win, and fortunately it went our way.
"This was a team whose confidence was shaken after a bad start in conference play and we were playing in Hawaii, where it's nearly impossible to win. But we kept on fighting and finally we had something go our way."
Maybe the Bulldogs should play more games in Hawaii, as the game was Louisiana Tech's second straight win in the Sheriff Center after defeating Hawaii on the road 62-61 last year. In fact, the Warriors had won 13 straight home contests dating back to last year's loss to Tech before the Bulldogs pulled it off again.
Senior guard
Donell Allick fell one-point shy of his career best as he led all scorers with 23 points and also topped the Bulldogs with six assists. Allick's six assists tied his season high.
Corey Dean added 13 points for the Bulldogs, who also received 10 points each from
Paul Millsap and Powell.
Millsap notched his 31st career double-double by adding 24 rebounds.
Making Tech's win even more impressive was the fact that the Bulldogs only used one player off the bench, junior guard
Eric Woods, and he only played five minutes in the contest.
Jake Sottos hit on six 3-pointers and led Hawaii with 20 points.
Louisiana Tech hit on 48.3 percent (28-58) of its shots in the game and out-rebounded Hawaii 36-29.
"The most important thing is that this keeps us alive when we were struggling," Richard said. "The team knows this is an important win, especially after losing at San Jose. This is the biggest win we've had this season and hopefully it's something we can build on and turn this season around.
Louisiana Tech returns to action next Saturday as the Bulldogs play host to Southern Methodist in a 6:30 p.m. contest at the Thomas Assembly Center.
