HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Louisiana Tech had its lead slip away in the second half, falling 71-68 to Sam Houston State on Sunday afternoon inside Johnson Coliseum.
 
The reason it slipped away – turnovers and free throw shooting.  LA Tech (6-3) turned it over a season-high 21 times and shot only 8-of-19 from the charity stripe. 
 
"The turnovers and free throw shooting scream off the box score," said head coach Eric Konkol.  "We knew Sam Houston State was going to pressure.  When you go minus-nine in the turnover margin and go 8-of-19 from the foul line, it is very difficult to win a basketball game, especially on the road.  We were still there though with two minutes to go and had a chance, but could not pull it out."
 
Despite those two things, the Bulldogs had their largest lead at 33-22 and ultimately went into intermission with a 36-29 advantage.  In doing so, they shot 50 percent from the field while holding Sam Houston State (5-5) to 34 percent shooting in the first stanza. 
 
With a 47-40 edge with 12:18 to go in the second half, that is when the turnovers and missed free throws really started to take their toll. 
 
The Bearkats proceeded to go on a 12-2 run and then had two separate seven-point leads, the second one coming with 4:31 to go in the contest. 
 
Kalob Ledoux answered the call with his third three-pointer and Amorie Archibald soon followed with his fourth triple of the day to tie things up at 65-65 at the 1:25 mark. 
 
LA Tech missed three of its last four field goal attempts and two of its last three free-throw attempts.  On the other hand, Sam Houston went on to make its lone field goal attempt and four of its five free-throw attempts.  
 
"Amorie is playing very well," said head coach Eric Konkol.  "He is a junior with a lot of minutes under his belt.  And he has a lot of versatility.  We have to get more contributions from other guys.  The game would have been much simpler if we had turned it over less and made our free throws. 
 
"We got frustrated with our turnovers and it impacted our defense.  When we missed free throws, it impacted our defense.  We have to be able to move on.  You have to be able to move on quickly and we did not do that very well today."
 
The Bulldogs shot well enough from the field (25-of-56 for 45 percent) and from beyond the arc (10-of-23 for 44 percent).  Archibald registered a team-high 20 points, his second 20+ scoring output of the season and sixth of his career.
 
Ledoux had 15 points off the bench and DaQuan Bracey added 12. 
 
The Bearkats were limited to 37 percent shooting as a team, but scored 23 points off turnovers.  Chad Bowie led the way with 22 points.
 
LA Tech will head home to begin a three-game home stand on Saturday, Dec. 14 versus in-state foe Louisiana-Lafayette.  Tipoff for the Throwback in the TAC game will be at 4 p.m.
 
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