LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (10-20; 7-9 WAC) ended their season Thursday night in the first round of the 2007 Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament to the second-seeded and host team New Mexico State (23-8; 11-5 WAC) by a final score of 77-70 in the Pan American Center.

?We knew we had to play a special game to win tonight,? Tech head coach Keith Richard said. ?I give New Mexico State a lot of credit. They?re good. We just didn?t make enough shots, and we couldn?t score enough.?

The Aggies opened the game with a 4-0 run before junior Keith Smith put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard at the 15:54 mark with a jumper in the lane. Senior Chad McKenzie tied the game 4-4 with 15 minutes on the clock before the Aggies reclaimed the lead with a lay-up on the ensuing possession. Smith added his fourth point of the half with a lay-up after a media timeout to tie the game 6-6.

After a 9-2 Aggie run, senior Harry Disy got his first basket of the night to cut the New Mexico State lead to 15-10 with 11:33 left in the first half which sparked a 5-2 run for a 17-15 score in favor of the Aggies.

New Mexico State, however, would outscore Tech 23-17 for the remainder of the half and took a 40-32 lead into the locker room.

New Mexico State opened the second half with an 11-1 run and went up 51-33. Tech, however, responded with a 13-5 run of its own and trailed only 56-46 with nine minutes remaining in the game.

It would not be enough, unfortunately, and the Aggies took the 77-70 win.

McDowell led Tech in scoring with 24 points and five rebounds. The Aggies were led by Tyrone Nelson with 26 points.