RUSTON – Up just four at midway point, Louisiana Tech dominated LSU-Alexandria in the second half in route to a 77-50 season-opening victory on Monday night inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
After shooting just 37.5 percent from the field in the first stanza, LA Tech (1-0) lit it up offensively in the second 20 minutes of action, scoring 47 points while knocking down 16 of its 31 field goal attempts.
Meanwhile, the defense was just like the defense from last season. The Bulldogs ended up holding LSUA, who came into the contest averaging 86.5 points in its first two contests of the season, to just 29.0 percent shooting.
Already having some games under their belt may have helped the Generals as the visitors came out aggressive, building as much as a 7-point lead with 11:31 remaining in the first half.
Struggling to find some offense, the Bulldogs turned to Devin Reewho came off the bench to drain three triples in the span of five minutes to help give the home team their first lead of the contest. Ultimately, LA Tech would be up, 30-26, at halftime.
With the 'Dogs maintain a 7-point edge eight minutes into the second half, the offense then came in bunches to the tune of a 14-0 run that was provided by all newcomers – Will Jeffress and Amaree Abram hit back-to-back threes while Kaden Cooper and Sean Elkinton both provided made jumpers.
LA Tech continued to pour it on, building as much as a 75-46 lead when Elkinton fired in a three-pointer, the ninth by the Bulldogs on the night.
The scoring was spread all around for LA Tech with five Bulldogs registering double-digit points. Cooper (17 points, nine rebounds), Jeffress (13 points, six rebounds), and Abram (10 points, five rebounds, four steals) introduced themselves.
Meanwhile, Daniel Batcho had a quiet 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks while Ree collected 11 points, including three makes from deep. And Sean Newman Jr. was the engine, dishing out eight assists to go along with seven boards, two steals, and two blocks.
LSUA's lone player in double figures was Kashie Natt who scored 17 points on 19 field goal attempts.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Talvin Hester "I thought our defense was good in both halves, we just could not buy a basket in the first half. I expected that with some rust. One thing we did not do in the first half was get the ball to Batcho. We had to make a concerted effort to get him the ball in the second half and when we did, the defense softened up which allowed us to hit shots from the perimeter. We finally matched their intensity in the second half, played even better defense and hit shots and that is the recipe for winning games."
Will Jeffress "I think we did pretty well. We still have a lot of stuff to work on. Coming into the game, this might be our floor and I feel like that is a scary thing for us. They came out and punched us in the mouth. Our offense was a little shaky, but we picked it up in the second half."
Kaden Cooper "We started off a little slow. It took us a little while to figure things out, first game of the season. In the second half, we really turned things up. We could not wait to get on the floor tonight and show everybody what we are about."
NOTABLES
- LA Tech claimed its 18th straight win in a home opener, improving to 38-5 all-time in home openers inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
- LA Tech improved to 1-0 all-time versus LSU-Alexandria with this being the first ever meeting between the two programs.
- The Bulldogs won their sixth straight game in a season opener played at home.LA Tech improved to 207-21 all-time in non-conference home games in the TAC. The Bulldogs have won 10 straight such games and 41 of their last 42 dating back to the 2018-19 season.
- Tonight marked the 28th time under coach Hester (out of 66 total games) that the Bulldogs have held their opponent to under 40 percent shooting.
- LA Tech totaled 10 steals, the most since having 11 at Liberty (Feb. 10, 2024).
- Kaden Cooper (17 points) and Will Jeffress(13) posted new career highs in scoring.
- Daniel Batchorecorded his 25th career game as a Bulldog in scoring double-digit points (15).
- Sean Newman Jr. tallied eight assists, marking the 20th time in his Bulldog career with at least five in a single game.
UP NEXT LA Tech returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 9 to face UT Arlington on the road. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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