Old Dominion stops LA Tech
RUSTON – A young Louisiana Tech team ran into an experienced Old Dominion squad that came into Ruston for a second time in the series and left with a victory, downing the Bulldogs by a final score of 82-69 on Saturday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
LA Tech (15-11, 6-7 C-USA) was able to hit its outside shots like normal, connecting on 13 three-pointers, but what did the Bulldogs in were a season-high 20 turnovers.
Old Dominion (19-5, 10-2 C-USA) took advantage, scoring 22 points off turnovers while shooting an astounding 57 percent from the field.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” head coach Eric Konkol said. “Old Dominion is a really good team that came in with a really good record. They are a very experienced team that attacks the glass and goes inside and we were not able to stop that tonight. We also could not take care of the basketball which led to some easy plays by them. For us, we have to be able to take a strong look at this one and learn from it.”
The Bulldogs were hot from beyond the arc to start the game. They got a triple from Amorie Archibald to open up the scoring and then later got back-to-back threes from Anthony Duruji and Jacobi Boykins to go
up 11-9 with 15:35 to play.
That would be the ‘Dogs only lead of the game though as the Monarchs answered with back-to-back threes of their own in the midst of an 11-0 run.
Derric Jean kept LA Tech in the game after that, hitting three straight three-pointers, but ODU was still able to stretch out its lead to 45-29 at halftime.
The Bulldogs needed a strong start to the second half and they quickly got a running floater by Jacobi Boykins. However, they would score only two more points over the next nine minutes of action while allowed the Monarchs to open their advantage up to 56-33 with 12:02 to go.
LA Tech still had plenty of fight though, forcing a handful of turnovers in its fullcourt press and drilling several three-pointers. They were able to slice the deficit down to 11, but the ‘Dogs ran out of time in the end.
“I was pleased with our fight down the stretch,” Konkol said. “We tried different things. We applied pressure to try to create turnovers and we did some. We played a little bit more free, got some baskets in desperation. I commend our guys for that type of effort to keep trying and try to pull through.”
The team ended up shooting 25-of-57 from the field for 44 percent and 13-of-30 from deep for 43 percent. They only took eight free throws on the night, making six.
Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by the senior Boykins who had a game-high 20 points while making four three-pointers, the 10th time he has done that in a game this season. Derric Jean made four threes of his own, a career high, to score 14 while Oliver Powell registered 13.
Old Dominion went 30-of-53 from the field for 57 percent and 10-of-20 from three-point range for 50 percent. Four of their five starters scored double-digit points, led by B.J. Stith who had 18. Guard Ahmad Caver added a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists.
LA Tech returns to Karl Malone Court on Thursday, Feb. 15 when they play host to UAB. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.