RUSTON – It took an extra five minutes to decide the winner between Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
 
It ended up being the Lumberjacks who prevailed as AJ Cajuste made the game-winning basket with 0.9 seconds left in an 80-79 decision.
 
LA Tech (6-4) and SFA (6-4) got its points in different ways all night.  The Bulldogs were dominant in the paint, outscoring their opponent 54-28.  It was needed as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country managed just a season-low four triples.
 
Meanwhile, the 'Jacks got much of their scoring from beyond the arc, draining 14 three-pointers.  The 12th one came from Cajuste to give the visiting team a 68-66 advantage with 35 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
LA Tech turned it over on the next possession, but got one more crack at sending it to OT after SFA's Nana Antwi-Boasiako missed the front end of a one-and-one.  And tie it up they did as Cobe Williams dished out one of his career-high 11 assists to Kenny Hunter who made the layup to knot up the score at 68-all. 
 
Cajuste attempted to end the game, but Williams came up with a block to force the extra frame.
 
The Lumberjacks got three-pointers No. 13 and 14 from Kyle Hayman to build a small 76-72 advantage with 1:29 to play in overtime. 
 
Meanwhile, Williams continued to will the team back in it, just as he did in the second half when LA Tech got down 59-51 after SFA went on a 17-2 run to erase the home team's largest lead at 49-42. 
 
The fourth-year guard made another dish to Hunter for the alley-oop slam and then converted an old-fashioned three-point play with four ticks on the clock to give the 'Dogs an 80-79 lead.  However, Cajuste had just enough time to take the ball the length of the floor and make the game-winning attempt.
 
Williams finished with his first career double-double, scoring a game-high 23 points to go along with his 11 dimes.  The two-time C-USA All-Defensive Team selection also had a career-high five steals. 
 
Hunter was sensational off the bench, posting a career-high 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting.  The freshman Jordan Crawford was the third Bulldog in double figures with 13 points.
 
SFA had five players score double-digit points, led by Hayman who had 18. 
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Talvin Hester
 
"Every possession matters.  All of the mistakes throughout the game accumulated to them winning by one.  It was not just the last possession, it was a bunch of possessions throughout the game that we could have changed the outcome."
 
"At the end of the day, you are going to give up something.  We turned them over 28 times and dominated points in the paint.  Every team is going to do something to score.  We kept them out of the paint and out of transition.  People are going to score somehow and they did it with 14 threes."
 
"Cobe left it all out on the floor.  He is a leader.  He gives maximum effort every day, not just in games but in practices."
 
Guard Cobe Williams
 
"It was always tough losing at home.  I was just playing hard, trying to do anything for my team to get a win.  On defense, we have to keep working on our rotations.  We have to break this game down, move on from it, and get ready for conference on Saturday."
 
NOTABLES

• With the 80-79 loss, SFA now leads the all-time series, 8-7. Each of the last two wins by the Lumberjacks have come in the closing seconds of the game.
• LA Tech played its first overtime game since Feb. 27, 2020. The Bulldogs have now lost the last four OT games they have played.
• Of the 14 losses suffered by the 'Dogs at home since 2015, eight of those came by one possession and five of those were decided by one point.
• The Bulldogs forced a season-high 28 turnovers. It ties for the fifth most forced TOs in program history and the most since setting the program record with 31 takeaways against Wiley College in 2019. LA Tech has now forced 20+ turnovers in six of its 10 games this season.
• LA Tech scored a season-high 54 paint scores (previous high was 42 at UL-Lafayette).
• Cobe Williams recorded his first career double-double with 23 points (fourth 20-point game this season) and a career-high 11 assists. It was the first time a Bulldog recorded double-digit assists since Amorie Archibald in 2019.
• Cobe Williams also tallied a career-high five steals, the most by a Bulldog since Derric Jean had five at WKU in 2020.
• Kenny Hunter posted a career-high 16 points off the bench (his fifth career double-figure scoring game) and he did it on 88.9 percent shooting.
• Jordan Crawford was two points shy of tying his career high, netting 13 points.
• Quandre Bullock became the first Bulldog this season to register three blocks in a single game.

UP NEXT
LA Tech opens up Conference USA play on Saturday, Dec. 17 with a matchup against UTEP in El Paso, Texas.  Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT at the Don Haskins Center.
 
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