Dec. 15, 2008

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Louisiana Tech (5-5) lost its first game in over two weeks Monday night to McNeese State (5-3) by a final score of 61-44 in the Lake Charles Civic Center.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bulldogs and gives them a 5-1 record this season against instate rivals.

"I felt like we were unable to get into a rhythm at all tonight," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "We've got to regroup as a team and come back strong. I told our guys that this is one game and the future is in our hands. We have to learn from this and toughen up and get our offense into a rhythm and flow.

McNeese started the scoring early, and at one point led 12-4 in the first half after shooting 6-6 from the field. The Bulldogs, however responded with a 13-5 run over the next seven minutes to tie the game 17-17 with eight minutes to play in the half. The Cowboys responded with a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead 24-17 before junior Jamel Guyton scored his tenth point in the first half thanks to a long three to cut the lead to 24-20 at the 5:28 mark.

McNeese held on, however, and took a 26-23 lead into the halftime locker room.

The hot shooting Cowboys eventually cooled down and finished the first half shooting 44 percent compared to Tech's 35 percent.

Guyton wasted little time in the second half and tied the ball game 26-26 with 19 minutes to play. It sparked a 6-0 run that gave Tech its first lead of the night 29-26. McNeese responded with an 8-0 run of its own to reclaim the lead 34-29 with 14:02 to play.

Junior Kyle "Iron Man" Gibson continued to live up to his new nickname after playing 39 minutes and leading all scorers with 19 points. Guyton added 17 for the Bulldogs. Kleon Perry led the Cowboys with 11 points.

The Bulldogs travel to Birmingham, Ala., to take on Samford Thursday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. in a return game from last season's ESPN BracketBuster weekend. The game will be broadcast live on KPCH 99.3 FM with an audio internet feed at www.thepeach993.com.