RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech scored on six of its first eight possessions and never looked back in taking an 88-59 victory over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The Bulldogs (4-3) jumped out to a 9-1 lead and led by 18 at halftime. Southeastern (5-4) got as close as six midway through the half, but a 19-4 run over the final 2:10 of the first half and the first 2:32 of the second helped Louisiana Tech pull away.
Junior guard
Eddy Polanco Led Southeastern with 12 points. Junior guard
George Brock set a career-best with 11 points. Junior guard
Davon Hayes added 10 points while sophomore forward
Moses Greenwood pulled down a team-high four rebounds to go with eight points. Sophomore guard
Marlain Veal had five assists. The Lions shot 33.8 percent from the field.
Erik McCree had a double-double for Louisiana Tech, tying a career high with 33 points while pulling down a career-best 18 rebounds. DaQuan Bracey contributed 14 points and eight assists while Omar Sherman had 12 points. The Bulldogs shot 55.6 percent and out-rebounded the Lions, 41-30.
Louisiana Tech shot 51.7 percent in taking a 45-27 halftime lead. A Derric Jean 3 gave the Bulldogs a 9-1 lead before Southeastern got its first field goal on a hook shot by Greenwood at the 17:10 mark. A 3 by McCree and a three-point play by Bracey off an assist by Joniah White built the lead to 15-5 with 15:21 left.
Louisiana Tech went up 21-5 as McCree fed White for a layup with 14:02 remaining. Freshman guard
Chris Mejia hit a 3, Polanco knocked down a pair of free throws to open a 12-2 run for Southeastern. Mejia nailed another 3, Greenwood buried a jumper and Polanco drove in for a layup to cut the deficit to 23-17 at the nine-minute mark.
The Bulldogs countered with a 10-0, starting with a 3 by McCree and a Jacobi Boykins layup. A Bracey layup made it 33-17 with 5:34 left. Veal beat the shot clock with a running jumper, Hayes hit a jumper from the right wing and Veal took a steal in from midcourt to get the Lions back to within 33-23 with 3:36 remaining. But Louisiana Tech closed the half on a 12-4 run with Bracey draining a 3 from the right wing at the buzzer.
The Bulldogs continued to run to open the second half as a McCree 3 and a Boykins dunk made it 52-27 with 17:37 left. Greenwood got Southeastern back on the board with a jumper at the 17:28 mark. A pair of Hayes layups got the Lions to within 54-34 at the 14:33 mark. But a layup by Jy'lan Washington made it 61-36 with 11:31 left.
Three-pointers by Polanco and Brock cut the deficit to 63-44 with 9:52 remaining. But the Lions would not get any closer as Louisiana Tech went on a 19-6 run over the next 6:21. A dunk by White made it 82-50 with 3:48 left.
Southeastern will now take a break for exams before hosting Florida A&M on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. in the University Center.
