Dec. 18, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech got out to a 20-0 lead and hung on to a 62-61 win over UT Arlington on Saturday at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Junior forward Olu Ashaolu recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting and 10 rebounds. He also added two blocks and two steals as Louisiana Tech improved to 9-4 on the season. Tech also won its 12th game in 13 tries against schools from the state of Texas.
"We've struggled all year when we have a lead." said Tech head coach Kerry Rupp. "Tonight we got out to a big lead and then got a little soft. Our execution wasn't what it needed to be. We didn't have great energy for the whole night. This is a game where we need to have great energy and great focus for all 40 minutes and when we do that, we can play extremely well."
The Bulldogs scored 20 points before the Mavericks scored their first bucket, a three-pointer, eight minutes into the half. Tech shot 53 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range during the scoring run that was capped off by a layup by Cordarius Johnson.
However, the Mavs (5-4) then went on an 18-8 run over the next 6:56 to cut the deficit as the Bulldogs led 28-18 with 5:04 remaining. Tech shot 50 percent from the field and took a 36-26 halftime lead. The Bulldogs outscored the Mavs 18-2 in the paint in the first period, but just 22-14 for the game.
The second half remained close throughout and got even closer in the final two minutes, yet UTA never held a lead. With Tech leading 59-52, UTA's Darius Richardson hit a three-pointer and then after a Tech turnover, LaMarcus Reed nailed a three to pull within one point, 59-58 with 1:30 remaining.
After Ashaolu missed a jumper, Reed attempted a three-pointer for the lead with 20 seconds left and missed. Ashaolu grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled. He hit both free throws to put Tech ahead 61-58 with 19 seconds left. Ashaolu hit another free throw with 6.7 seconds remaining which proved to be vital as UTA's Bo Ingram hit a three-pointer with three seconds on the clock as Tech won by one point.
Senior guard DeAndre Brown led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 15 points and three assists. Freshman guard Lonnie Smith had 11 points on 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range. Freshman guard Kenyon McNeaill also scored 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
The Bulldogs won by just one point despite outrebounding the Mavs 36-26 and outshooting them 47.8-39.2 percent from the field.
Tech will next be in action at Iowa on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
