Box Score



RUSTON – Raheem Appleby and Cordarius Johnson combined to score 37 points and Louisiana Tech closed out the first half with a 22-6 run to erase a 14-point deficit and defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 99-62, on Wednesday at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Michale Kyser scored 10 points for Louisiana Tech (6-1), which shot 24-for-32 (75 percent) in the second half and outscored Southeastern (1-4) in the final 20 minutes, 69-34. Appleby led the Bulldogs with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Johnson added 15. Despite a rough start in which it opened 3-for-16 from the floor, Louisiana Tech finished 35-for-63 (56 percent) from the field in winning its 23rd consecutive non-conference game at home.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-2 lead on buckets by Johnson, Appleby and Kenneth Smith before Southeastern settled down. A bucket by Onochie Ochie with 13:21 remaining in the first half capped a 12-0 run for the Lions before Southeastern built its biggest lead of the game – 22-8 – on a pair of free throws by Brandon Fortenberry with 6:45 left.

A pair of free throws by Kyser and a steal and dunk by Brandon Gibson cut Southeastern's lead to 22-12 with 5:50 remaining in the first half before the Bulldogs eventually took the lead for good, 30-26, on consecutive 3-pointers from Johnson and Appleby.

Louisiana Tech opened the second half with an 11-0 run to pull away from a 30-28 lead at intermission and built its biggest lead of the game when a pair of free throws by Kenyon McNeil gave the Bulldogs a 92-51 lead with 4:15 remaining in the game.

Dre Evans went 8-for-12 from the floor to lead Southeastern with 19 points. The former Providence College letterwinner went 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc as Southeastern finished 23-for-61 (38 percent) from the floor and 4-for-11 (36 percent) from behind the arc.

Fortenberry added 10 points for Southeastern while Roosevelt Johnson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Southeastern will return to action on Saturday when it faces Ohio Valley Conference member Southeast Missouri in a 4 p.m. contest at the University Center. Tickets are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (1-4)
Evans 8-12 0-0 19; Fortenberry 2-7 6-8 10; Benton 2-3 2-2 7; Ricard 3-9 0-0 6; Johnson 3-16 0-2 6; Ochie 2-3 1-2 5; Nelson 2-5 0-1 4; Campbell 1-4 0-0 2; Petrovcic 0-0 2-2 2; Woods 0-2 1-2 1; James 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 23-61 12-20 62.

LOUISIANA TECH (6-1)
Appleby 9-14 2-2 22; C. Johnson 5-9 4-7 15; Kyser 3-6 4-6 10; Smith 4-6 0-0 8; Gjuroski 2-2 1-2 7; Hamilton 3-4 1-1 7; J. Johnson 2-3 3-4 7; Anderson 2-2 1-2 7; Gibson 3-7 1-5 7; Massey 1-2 2-3 4; Talbot 1-2 1-1 3; McNeail 0-6 2-2 2; Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-63 22-35 99.

Halftime – Louisiana Tech 30, SLU 28. 3-point goals – SLU 4-11 (Evans 3-4; Benton 1-2; Ricard 0-1; Nelson 0-2; Fortenberry 0-2), Louisiana Tech 7-17 (Anderson 2-2; Gjuroski 2-2; Appleby 2-2; C. Johnson 1-4; J. Johnson 0-1; Gibson 0-2; McNeail 0-3; Smith 0-1). Fouled out - Ochie, Benton, Anderson. Rebounds – SLU 38 (Johnson 8), Louisiana Tech 40 (Kyser 6). Assists – SLU 8 (Ricard 3), Louisiana Tech 19 (Smith 7). Total fouls – SLU 27, Louisiana Tech 21. Technical fouls - Ochie, Talbot. A – 2,537.