Feb. 3, 2008

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Louisiana Tech (3-16; 0-7 WAC) was unable to capitalize off a good first half against Hawaii (10-11; 6-3 WAC) Saturday night and lost 71-57 in the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I thought our guys played with a lot of energy and gave a good effort," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "But playing hard is not enough. You have to play smart. I liked the way we kept attacking and kept trying to get back in the game. This was a good team we played tonight. When it got to the crunch, they did a good job of taking it to us."

After Hawaii jumped out to s 2-0 lead, junior Adrian Rogers tied the game with 18:20 on the clock in the first half, which was followed by a bucket in the paint by junior JC Clark to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead.

A three-pointer from Drew Washington at the 12:57 mark would reclaim the lead for Bulldogs 11-9. Washington would add another three to tie the game 16-16 with 10:36 left in the first half. Freshman Brandon Mims would tie the game again 21-21 with over eight minutes to go in the period with a six foot jump shot off the baseline.

Clark reclaimed the lead 24-23 for Tech with 6:51 to go with another three, but the Warriors would make a last first half surge to take a 41-32 lead into the locker room at half time.

Tech would cut the lead to 48-45 midway through the second half but would be unable to come any closer as the Warriors would win the game 71-57.

"We had some communication break downs tonight," Rupp added. "You can't give a team like that good opportunities, and we did that down the stretch."

Sophomore Kyle Gibson led Tech scorers with 16 points, while both Clark and Rogers finished the night with 11 points apiece. Bobby Nash led the Warriors with 16 points.

Tech will return to action Monday, Feb. 4, to take on the Fresno State Bulldogs in the Save Mart Center. Tip off is set for 9 p.m. CST.