NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Louisiana Tech became just the fifth team in six seasons to win against Stephen F. Austin in William R. Johnson Coliseum on Friday night.
The Bulldogs (7-3) were on the other end of a rare home loss a year ago. The Lumberjacks (5-3) won, 85-83, on Karl Malone Court inside the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La., in 2017.
Louisiana Tech needed overtime to return the favor, 96-93, on Friday. Stephen F. Austin was 91-4 at William R. Johnson dating back to the 2012-13 season with only two non-conference losses.
"First off, you have to tip your hat off to SFA and especially (Shannon) Bogues and (Davonte) Fitzgerald," said Louisiana Tech head coach Eric Konkol about the two 'Jacks who combined for 65 points. "Those two guys, the performances they had offensively, were spectacular and really made it difficult on our defense. They made a number of tough shots.
"But, I am really proud of our guys. We talked this week about the next play and just moving on to the next play. Of course, we made mistakes, but we were able to move on quickly and come away with the win."
The Bulldogs were without sophomore guard Exavian Christon, of Hot Springs, for a third consecutive game due to an undisclosed injury. A number of missed free throws hurt them in overtime and a missed box out allowed the Lumberjacks to tie the game at 83-83 and force the first overtime.
Louisiana Tech took the lead in overtime with a free throw from sophomore Anthony Duruji and junior DaQuan Bracey, but Stephen F. Austin answered with one of the team's 15 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs forced back-to-back turnovers after the score was tied, 93-93, with 2:02 to go. They contested the last two shot attempts, which came up short for Stephen. Austin.
Junior Oliver Powell got his only point of the game on a free throw with 25 seconds remaining in the game. Bracey grabbed a high rebound on the other end and pitched it ahead to Duruji, who delivered the exclamation point on the win with a two-handed slam.
"Feeling like you should have won in regulation, every excuse is running through your mind with if you lose the game what can you point to," Konkol said.
"I am very proud of our team for that type of growth, to move on to the next play and focus on it being a five-minute game in overtime and go win it. That is what they did."
Louisiana Tech shot just 36 percent in the first half and trailed, 40-31, by halftime with seven turnovers. The Bulldogs put up 52 points in the second half on 69-percent shooting with only one turnover in the second 20 minutes.
LA Tech was fortunate to be down only nine (40-31) at halftime after shooting just 36 percent from the field, turning the ball over seven times and SFA drilling seven timely threes.
Fitzgerald and Bogues led all scorers with 33 and 32 points, respectively. Louisiana Tech was led by Bracey with 20, sophomore guard Amorie Archibald with 18, Duruji with 17, senior guard Derric Jean with 16 and a career0high 15 points from sophomore JaColby Pemberton off of the bench.
Next up for Louisiana Tech is a home matchup with Mississippi Valley State (2-8) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Sports on 12/09/2018