Boxscore

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (9-17; 6-7 WAC) won their second game in a row Saturday night over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (10-18; 6-10 OVC) 72-56 in the Show Me Center in part of O?Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU?s BracketBuster weekend.

?Our defense did a great job,? Tech head coach Keith Richard said. ?We?ve really taught hard on defense for the past couple of games, and now we?ve gotten a couple of wins in a row. To play this well on the road was really nice to see this time of year.?

Senior Jerome Richardson opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a lay-up at the 19:15 mark to go up 2-0. SEMO tied the game on the ensuing possession, but a jumper from senior Trey McDowell with 18:21 in the first half reclaimed the lead 4-2. Tech followed with a 15-7 scoring run for a 19-9 lead with 10:44 left in the half.

SEMO made a rally of its own over the next six minutes to trail 23-21, but it would McDowell that would silence the crowd at the 4:24 mark with a three-pointer from the corner to give the Bulldogs a 26-21 lead. Tech would outscore the Redhawks 12-5 for the remainder of the half and take a 37-26 lead into the locker room.

Richardson opened the second half much like the first with a lay up to extend the Bulldog lead to 39-26. The basket sparked a 10-2 run for Tech over the next three minutes for a 47-28 lead. The Bulldogs would have no problem for the rest of the way and cruised to a 72-56 victory.

McKenzie and McDowell led the Bulldogs with 17 and 16 points, respectively. SEMO was led in scoring by Dionte Perry with 11.

Coach Richard added he was pleased with the way his team handled SEMO?s tough press defense for the night.

?I thought our guys handled the full court press extremely well,? Richard said. ?We?ve really worked on good body language and ball fakes. I thought this team did an excellent job for 40 minutes and got some easy baskets.?

The Bulldogs will return to action Thursday, Feb. 22, for a home contest with the Fresno State Bulldogs for a 7 p.m. tip.