RUSTON – Louisiana Tech had five players score double-digit points in the convincing 86-57 victory over Lamar on Saturday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
 
The game belonged to LA Tech (6-2) from the tip, jumping out to 12-0 lead and leading wire-to-wire as the former conference rival Lamar (1-6) could never get the deficit into single digits.   
 
The paint also belonged to the Bulldogs, posting a season-high 46 paint points and pulling down a whopping 49 boards with a +14 rebounding margin against the Cardinals. 
 
Amorie Archibald led the way offensively with 14 points to go along with a season-high six assists.  Joining him in double-figures were Isaiah Crawford (13 points all in the first half), JaColby Pemberton (12), Kenneth Lofton, Jr. (11) and Kalob Ledoux (10).
 
"We really talked about needing to get off to a good start defensively and I thought we executed the game plan early very well, from switching screens, being in the right spots," said head coach Eric Konkol.  "That helped ignite our offense where I thought we had good balance, inside and out.
 
"Amorie does a little bit of everything, from scoring it to assisting it.  He played his game today and was able to do a lot of different things for us, making some key baskets and key decisions.  And our front court really contributed today.  We've been working on post feeds and I thought our guards did a nice job getting the ball inside.  If you get the ball in the paint, you have great opportunities to score."
 
Six different Bulldogs scored in the first six minutes, getting things rolling with three three-pointers from Ledoux, Exavian Christon and Pemberton who was also fouled on his make and turned it into a four-point play. 
 
Lamar finally got on the scoreboard over five minutes into the contest with a layup by Quinian Bennett.  It wasn't long before LA Tech ignited again on offense, making eight straight field goals, to push things out to a commanding 42-15 lead with 3:23 left to play in the first half. 
 
The 25-point halftime lead was threatened early in the second half as the Cardinals scored 10 quick points to start the stanza, forcing a timeout by Konkol. 
 
After five straight misses by the Bulldogs, Lofton, Jr. stymied the Lamar run by scoring back-to-back buckets.  The lead reached its max at 77-42 which came at the 7:15 mark. 
 
"We talked about how our shot selection against their zone wasn't great," said Konkol.  "That was turning into transition baskets for them.  They were flying the ball down the floor.  We didn't have the same type of intensity level that we had to start the game.  I motivated them to ramp that intensity level up during the timeout."
 
With the victory, LA Tech improved its home-winning streak to 12 while closing out non-conference undefeated in the TAC for a third straight season.  The team shot 47.1 percent from the field (33-70) while Lamar was limited to 32.8 percent shooting (20-61). 
 
 LA Tech will close out non-conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 22 when they make the short trek down I-20 to face ULM in Monroe.  Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
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