March 8, 2008
Box Score
RUSTON, La. - A career-high 28 points from Kyle Gibson and double-digit efforts from four other players gave Louisiana Tech its second consecutive victory, an 87-83 Senior Night victory over San Jose State at the Thomas Assembly Center on Saturday night.
"Our whole thing was about finishing strong," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "We've always talked about having three seasons. The third season is the WAC Tournament where everybody starts 0-0. Again, I'm proud that our guys never gave up. We got the lead in the first half and they came right back on us. But we had to dig in, fight and battle and find a way to gut it out and win the ball game. We had to put bodies on people and step up, take charges and make them take tough shots."
Gibson, the only underclassman among the top 10 scorers in the Western Athletic Conference, played all 40 minutes and burned the nets with his 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a 4-for-7 effort from three-point range. It was the 18th time this season that Gibson led the Bulldogs in scoring. Jonathan "JC" Clark added 16 points and James Loe had 15, while Dwayne Lathan and Orren Tims added 11 apiece off the bench.
J.J. Marshall, the lone senior for Louisiana Tech (6-23, 3-13 WAC), got his first career start and played six minutes, dishing out a career-best three assists.
San Jose State (12-18, 4-12 WAC) was led by C.J. Webster, who had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds on the night. Jamon Hill took top honors for the Spartans with 19 points, while Tim Pierce, Chris Oakes and DeVonte Thomas had 18, 13 and 12, respectively.
The Bulldogs won the game despite being more than doubled up in the rebounding department; the Spartans pulled down 46 boards to Tech's 21. But 51.9-percent shooting - including an amazing 9-of-13 effort from three-point range in the first half - carried the Bulldogs to the victory.
Things couldn't have gone much better for Tech in the first half. Clark and Gibson combined to knock down five 3-pointers, helping the Bulldogs jump out to a lead as big as 13 points with under two minutes to play. A pair of layups wrapped around a Tech free throw would shrink the lead to 10 at the half.
San Jose would come out of the locker room on fire, though. The Spartans would open the second half on a 20-8 run, taking a two-point lead at the 13:46 mark. Almost all of their points during that stretch came on second-chance attempts as the Bulldogs did not pull down a rebound - this one offensive - until the 13:03 mark. By that time, San Jose had a four-point lead.
From that point on, the lead would change hands seven times and there would be six ties as the teams traded baskets over the next eight-plus minutes. A driving layup from Loe with just over four minutes to play would give Tech a 73-71 lead.
Free throws down the stretch would be pivotal as Loe, Lathan and Clark would hit eight of 10 shots in the final 2:30 to preserve the victory.
Tonight's game turned out to be a preview of the opening round of the 2008 WAC Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Las Cruces, N.M. Louisiana Tech and San Jose State will meet for the third time this season on Tuesday night to kick off postseason play.
"You have to bring your best game," Rupp said about the WAC Tournament. "We want to keep moving forward as a team. As long as we have games to play, we can keep moving forward. I think we've made tremendous strides. Everybody has to stay focused and give great energy and enthusiasm."
Game time is tentatively set for 8:30 p.m. Central Time at the Pan American Center. Check www.latechsports.com for information about radio and live streaming video coverage for the WAC Tournament.
