Dec. 4, 2005
Box Score
Trailing a mere 52-50 with 5:35 remaining, the Southern Jaguars
hit an offensive dry spell as the LA Tech Bulldogs took control of the boards
and pulled away to a 61-52 win before a sparse crowd in the Thomas Assembly
Center on the Louisiana Tech campus.
"When playing on the road, you can't expect much to go
your way," Southern coach Rob Spivery said. "We needed to play solid
defense and take advantage of our opportunities on offense, and in the closing
minutes we didn't do it."
Early on, the Jaguars (0-5) played Tech tough. Southern rode
a balanced scoring attack and solid rebounding to claim a 33-31 edge at the
half.
Tech (3-3) started the second half with a 15-6 run, but the
Jaguars clawed their way back and tied the game at 46-46 with 12 minutes left.
The lead then see-sawed over the next seven minutes, with a tip in by Jerrid
Campbell pulling the Jaguars to with 52-50. But the Bulldogs closed with a 9-2
run to claim the win.
"We've got to establish more of an inside game to win,"
Spivery said. "We stayed with them rebounding the ball, we just didn't
have anyone who could finish like Millsap. And we were getting the ball inside,
we just weren't finishing. That was the difference in the game."
Southern was led in scoring by shooting guard, Chris Alexander.
The senior from Lawton, Okla. totaled 13 points, and was joined in double figures
by power forward Peter Cipriano, who added 12. Jerrid Campbell led Southern
with eight rebounds.
Forward Paul Millsap was the only double-digit scorer for Louisiana
Tech.
Although Spivery said a loss is "never a good thing,"
he did say there were positives his squad could take from Saturday's defeat.
"Our defense played solid the entire game and we rebounded
well," he said. "And we played well on the offensive end for 35 minutes.
"I guess the main thing you could say is that we had a
chance to win the game," he continued.
"We've just got to work on taking advantage of those types
of chances."
The Southern Jaguars will travel to Hammond on Monday night,
for a 7:00 pm start against the Southeastern Lions, followed by a return game
against Louisiana Tech at home on Dec. 10.
