RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech men's basketball team got back into the win column on Saturday night, getting six players to score double-digit points in outlasting Houston Baptist by a final score of 85-78 inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court. 
 
LA Tech (5-3) bounced back physically and emotionally from a long road trip and the sudden injury to leading scorer Exavian Christon to pull out its fourth home victory of the season. 
 
"I told the team in the locker room that I was really proud of them," head coach Eric Konkol said.  "There are so many emotions that come from things that happened this week, coming back from a tough road trip against two good teams, with travel, with Exavian [Christon].  And then playing a very good team in Houston Baptist who has had some quality wins this year.  I just thought that the resolve of our group, the togetherness, says a lot and it is something we can build on."
 
In what was a game of very little runs as neither team could pull away from one another, putting the Bulldogs over the hump was their defensive play over the last seven minutes of the contest.
 
Holding a slim 71-70 lead at that point, LA Tech was able to limit Houston Baptist (2-4) to just eight total points the rest of the way on only three made field goals.  The 'Dogs had just two made field goals during the same stretch, but they both came at critical times.
 
Up two, junior DaQuan Bracey received the ball in the corner and, instead of taking the three-pointer, drove baseline and threw down a crowd-pleasing slam dunk to make it 78-74 with 3:18 to go.
 
The pesky Huskies did as they did all night and responded, getting a layup from Philip McKenzie on their next offensive possession to slice the deficit down to a one-possession game. 
 
After an offensive rebound, LA Tech's 16th of the game, junior Ra'Shawn Langston was in the perfect position to grab the 17th offensive board and immediately put it back for the layup and the 80-76 advantage with 2:15 to play. 
 
Afterwards, the Bulldogs got four straight defensive stops and turned those into five made free throws to seal the win. 
 
"It is something we have talked about, being able to finish games and finish with defense," Konkol said.  "Not trying to just outscore somebody.  Getting key stops, cleaning up the rebounds, not taking any type of hero play.  I thought we did that.  We made some things difficult for Houston Baptist down the stretch and I that showed up in the end result."
 
LA Tech's biggest run of the game came in the middle of the first half when they went on an 8-0 run, taking a 23-14 lead, which was started by a Langston triple and included a high-flying slam dunk from sophomore Anthony Duruji off an in-bounds play. 
 
HBU countered with a 6-0 run which forced a Bulldog timeout.  The Huskies trailed 39-36 at halftime and were able to two one-point leads early in the second half, but both leads were erased by the 'Dogs on their very next offensive possession. 
 
Scoring wise, Duruji led the way with 15 points to go along with a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.  Four Bulldogs – Powell, Langston, Derric Jean and Amorie Archibald – added 13 points and Bracey contributed 12. 
 
"Losing Exavian's production, we were going to have to have everybody step up in some way.  That doesn't mean one guy was going to take 10 more shots.  It was going to be stretched out among the entire team, play unselfish and make good decisions and I thought he guys did that for the most part tonight."
 
The team went 29-of-64 from the field (45 percent) while only making a season-low four three-pointers, but they were extremely efficient from the foul line, making 23 out of 27 for 85 percent.  And for a fifth time this season, the Bulldogs recorded a double-digit rebounding margin (42-31). 
 
Houston Baptist went 28-of-61 from the field (46 percent) and 7-of-20 from beyond the arc (35 percent).  Five Huskies were in double figures for scoring, led by Ian Dubose who registered a game-high 19 points.   
 
LA Tech stays home to take on Prairie View A&M on Tuesday, Dec. 4.  Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
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