SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Louisiana Tech men's basketball team won its third game in three days, downing the LBP Red All-Stars by a final score of 108-91 on Friday afternoon at the Mario Morales Coliseum.
LA Tech held a slim two-point lead late in the third quarter, but the offensive floodgate busted wide open as the Bulldogs closed the stanza out on an 8-0 run and then poured in 35 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the sweep in Puerto Rico.
"I thought we could have guarded better," said head coach
Talvin Hester. "I thought we let them score at will sometimes. I was not happy with our energy, but I was happy with our resilience and being able to fight back and find a way. I was happy different guys stepped up. I thought it was a huge day for
Jordan Crawford who had 10 assists, showing he can play at a high level. Then our older guys stepped up late. Cobe became Cobe. We need him to do that all year. I have not said enough about
Dravon Mangum. I think he will be a great Bulldog.
"What we came here to find out is that there is a good team in us. We just have to keep fighting and trying to build our culture and find out who we are going to be consistently."
Despite no traffic or flat tires delaying the start of the game, LA Tech came out a little slow, resulting in its largest deficit of the trip down 17-10 in the first quarter. A jolt of offense sent the contest into a 22-22 score at the end of the frame.
Despite the three-pointers not falling like in the first two games, the Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the second quarter, extending it to a 12-point advantage at the midway point up 50-38.
The LBP Red All-Stars chipped away, getting to within four to force a timeout by the 'Dogs. They got even closer, down 65-63 before
Terran Williams connected on back-to-back threes and
Jordan Crawford drove to the rack for a layup at the buzzer to make it a 75-65 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
LA Tech then had its biggest offensive output of any quarter in Puerto Rico, eclipsing the century mark to put the game away.
"We played good together today," said
Keaston Willis. "We started out slow, but we picked it up in the second quarter and the rest of the game. We played together, moved the ball, got offensive rebounds.
"This trip has been fun. A lot of us have never been outside the states. Off the court has been fun. On the court, we have been learning a lot and having fun playing together. It has been a great experience."
Five different Bulldogs notched double-digit points, led by
Dravon Mangum who had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Cobe Williams had 16 points, followed by
Keaston Willis with 14, T. Williams with 11 and
David Green (playing in his first game) with 10.
Jordan Crawford was right there with nine points to go along with 10 assists.
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