Bulldogs 'dig a ditch' vs SHS

Despite holding Sam Houston without a field goal the final five minutes of the game, Louisiana Tech couldn’t overtake the Bearkats in a thrilling finish at the Thomas Assembly Center Thursday, falling 72-66.

Up 15 points with under five minutes left, Sam Houston had one of the best crowds in recent memory at the Thomas Assembly Center hitting the exits early Thursday. It looked like the Bearkats (19-11, 12-3 CUSA) weren’t just going to win their first Conference USA regular season title in their first year in the league, they were going to run away with it handily.

But the Bulldogs (21-9, 11-4 CUSA) had other plans, going on a 17-2 run to get the game back to within three with under 1:30 left — with Isaiah Crawford, Daniel Batcho and Tahlik Chavez doing their best to lead Tech back from what otherwise was an ugly first half and early second half of basketball.

The comeback was noteworthy but it wasn’t enough to keep the Bearkats from winning the CUSA regular season title.

“Our fight in each half was different,” Tech head coach Talvin Hester said. “Our first half fight; I think their physicality put us in a place that we haven’t really been and we did uncharacteristic — not rebounding in the first half. They had seven points off turnovers in the first half which was 15 and that was the lead. That was the difference. Come second half, we put up a big fight which gave us a chance. But then it comes down to the little things at that point.”

The Bulldogs trailed 35-27 at halftime, allowing 27 rebounds — nine offensive — in the first 20 minutes after giving up 35 total rebounds to WKU on Feb. 28. Tech shot 12-of-29 (41%) from the floor and was outscored 22-18 points in paint.

Jordan Crawford’s layup cut it to 44- 37 with 12:30 left, with Tech shooting 15-of-38 (39.5%) from the field at that point — still struggling to find consistent offense and sharing the ball.

But soon after, SHS pulled back ahead 4937 with 10 minutes left. Three minutes later, Tech looked up trailing by 15 with seven minutes left. Then 18. The crowd began to disperse.

Hester said his group finally got its wakeup call and went on a 21-10 run over the final 5:30, with Isaiah Crawford scoring big buckets, including a step-back three pointer to send the home crowd into a roar as the deficit all of a sudden was down to six with two minutes to go. Less than a minute later, Jordan Crawford lobbed a pass to Batcho for the big man to bring down and cut the deficit to three.

But Tech could never get over the hump, sending SHS to the foul line down the stretch, where the Bearkats finished 14-18. Tech, meanwhile, went 15-of-23 at the line. Hester was proud of his group for not allowing the game to keep in blowout fashion, but said the first half miscues were too much to overcome.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth and it took until halftime for our guys to wake up and realize this is not personal, they want to win as bad as we want to win,” Hester said. “Once we went in the locker room and talked about that we came out fighting. We came out swinging. We just dug a ditch. We made a couple runs and they made a run. And then we made a couple runs and they made a big run. Then we fought back, but it was too little too late.”

SHS outrebounded Tech 42-35 overall, including 14- 10 on the offensive glass. And the visitors led for 30:25 of the contest.

Isaiah Crawford, who finished with 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks, said the Bulldogs have to turn around quickly and flush the hurt of Thursday’s loss with the regular season finale and the CUSA tournament still to go. There’s no time to sulk.

“Just changing our mindset and moving onto the next game, the next day, and focusing on Middle Tennessee,” Crawford said.

Along with Isaiah Crawford, Batcho added 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks, while Chavez added 12 points and 3 rebounds.

Tech closed out the regular season Saturday at home against Middle Tennessee.