Feb. 6, 2009
Box Score
RENO, Nev. -- Nevada's hold over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs is no more after a 78-75 win in the Lawlor Event Center Thursday night in front of a crowd of 6,598 fans.
The Bulldogs (9-14; 3-7 WAC) had lost 12 straight games to the Wolf Pack (13-9; 6-3 WAC) before Thursday dating back to the 2002-03 season when Tech finished with a 99-97 win on the road.
"That was a great game," Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. "We started slowly, and they came firing out of the gate. I wanted our guys to come out and compete tonight and take it possession by possession. That was a very, very good team we beat tonight and a terrific road win for us."
Tech pulled the game back to within two points with a 7-3 run to start the second half of play to cut the lead to 40-38 with 15 minutes to play. Freshman Olu Ashaolu would tie the game 40-40 with 14:15 on the clock with a reverse layup, and after a Nevada free throw, junior David Jackson would give Tech its first lead since early in the first half 42-41.
The teams would trade proverbial blows over the next thirteen minutes, and neither could seem to pull away until junior Kyle Gibson knocked down a clutch three-pointer to give Tech a 74-72 lead with 38 second left to play. Junior Magnum Rolle knocked down both his free throws to give the Bulldogs a 76-72 lead before Armon Johnson of Nevada hit a three-pointer to cut Tech's lead to 76-75 with 8.6 seconds left to play. Senior James Loe made his free throws after being fouled with 5.0 second left to play and sealed the win after Nevada freshman Luke Babbitt was unable to get a shot off with time expiring.
"We tried to make the right defensive adjustments in the second half," Rupp said. "We wanted to be more aggressive and get to the rim. We thought if we did that we would have a chance to win. I thought our kids did a great job with the game plan and got some big stops at the end. They had great players that are capable of making big plays, and our guys did a great job of keeping them from getting the shot at the end."
After a layup by Gibson gave Tech its first basket and lead, Nevada jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first half of play before the Bulldogs answered with 6-0 run to cut lead to 11-10 with 13:32 in first half. The Wolf Pack, however, put together a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to extend its lead to 20-12 at the 9:22 mark. Tech would slightly outscore Nevada for the rest of the half and trailed 37-31 going into the halftime locker room.
Gibson's 16 points led Tech on the night, while three other Bulldogs finished in double-figures. Rolle added 15 points, while junior Jamel Guyton added 13. Sophomore Shawn Oliverson rounded out Tech's double figure scorers with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
Johnson's 27 points led the Wolf Pack.
Tech returns to action Saturday, Feb. 7, against the WAC's top-ranked Utah State Aggies. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast live on KXKZ 107.5 FM locally with a live audio feed at www.z1075fm.com.
