Oct. 24, 2012
Coach White Presser
RUSTON - After 14 practices in 14 days, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs will get the chance to play someone other than themselves as they will tipoff in the Thomas Assembly Center tomorrow night at 7 p.m. against Arkansas-Monticello in the first of their two exhibition games prior to regular season play.
Second year head coach Michael White and his staff will use this contest against the Boll Weevils to evaluate the team's progress thus far in hopes of carrying over last year's last season success and improving in areas that needed the most attention.
"First and foremost, we'll be evaluating our team's mindset as it relates to what's most important to our long-term success," said White. "How we defend and rebound is most important. Offensively, we hope to have some carryover from practice in terms of execution and unselfishness."
The Bulldogs return nine letter winners from the 18-16 team that was 40 minutes away from an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. This year's squad is still very youthful with only two seniors returning in savvy veterans Brandon Gibson and J.L. Lewis.
Other key returners this year are juniors Cordarius Johnson, Kenyon McNeail and sophomore Stojan Gjuroski who look to continue their added quality depth to a strong backcourt with long range shooting capability.
The Bulldogs will continue to rely greatly on its underclassmen though that gave such a tremendous amount of production last year, highlighted by the now-sophomore trio of Raheem Appleby, Kenneth Smith and Michale Kyser.
LA Tech also welcomes freshmen newcomers Alex Hamilton and Gilbert Talbot and junior college transfers Jaron Johnson and Chris Anderson.
Arkansas-Monticello returns three players with game experience from a year ago, including their leading scorer Kori Forge who average 17.0 ppg. They are coming off of a 21-9 season as members of the Great American Conference and are led by Allen Sharpe who is in his third season as their head coach.
The Bulldogs will host another exhibition on Nov. 2 versus Southern Arkansas at 7:30 p.m. before beginning their regular season on Nov. 9 at Texas A&M.
Season tickets are currently on sale for both the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters as fans can call 318-257-3631, email techtickets@latech.edu or log onto www.LATechSports.com.
Live stats will be available through the link provided on the official website schedule page. Twitter users can get updates of the game as well by following @LATechHoops.
Admission is free for the exhibition contest.
