by Malcolm Butler
For the first 35 minutes of action, Daniel Batcho had a game to forget.
However, the preseason Conference USA Player of the Year came to life down the stretch and into overtime, helping Louisiana Tech to an 85-79 win over Southern Illinois Monday afternoon at Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida.
Batcho, who entered the game ranked No. 1 in the country in field goal percentage at 90 percent, missed eight of his first nine shots against the Salukis.
And with just seven minutes to play in regulation, Batch and the Bulldogs (5-0) trailed 59-48 and were in jeopardy of picking up their first loss of the young season.
“With about eight minutes to go in the game all we talked about was toughness,” said Tech head coach Talvin Hester. “I felt like Southern Illinois was being tougher than us. I challenged our guys to be tougher down the stretch, get loose balls, have great positioning, and finishing plays. I felt like we did a great job of that.”
Tech cut the Salukis lead to 66-62 with 3 minutes to play before Al Green, who scored a game-high 19 points, drained a three-pointer to close the gap to one. However, Southern Illinois scored four straight to take a 70-65 advantage with 90 seconds remaining.
That’s when Batcho went to work.
An offensive rebound and follow away jumper in the lane while being fouled close the deficit to 70-68 after Batcho connected on the free throw.
Batcho then corralled a defensive rebound off a missed Salukis three-pointer and then tied the game at 70-70 on a layup off an assist from Sean Newman Jr. with 47 seconds to play.
“The saving grace was he shot great from the free throw line,” said Hester in regards to Batcho’s struggles from the field for most of the game. “Late in the game we had a Daniel Batcho sighting. He started taking control of the game along with Sean. When they started doing that, it opened things up for guys like Al [Green] and others to be who they are.”
Both teams had multiple opportunities to take the lead in the final 45 seconds, but neither could find the bottom of the net as the game went into overtime.
Batcho picked up where he left off as Tech forced a turnover and Batcho converted another conventional three-point play to give Tech a 73-70 lead.
Kaden Cooper, who finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two blocks, then upped the advantage to 75-70 on a layup off another Salukis turnover.
Newman did his part in the extra period, hitting a jumper in the lane with 2:34 to play and then hitting a driving layup with 1:10 remaining to keep SIU at arm’s length.
Following an SIU three-pointer with 31 seconds left that closed the Tech lead to 81-79, Newman calmly sank two free throws with 15 seconds left to push it back to a four-point lead.
Green hit two free throws with less than a second to play for the final margin of victory.
“We can score the ball,” said Hester. “I feel like sometimes we relax on defense because we can score it. We went on a drought there in the first half that was concerning. We had some sightings those of players who stepped up for us.”
After scoring only two points in the first half, Amaree Abram totaled 18 points and six steals for Tech as the Bulldogs saw five players reach double figures.
Tech connected on 26-of-30 free throws in the win and recorded 14 steals.
“I am happy for us to win a game like this, a tough game that goes to overtime,” said Hester. “We had the right mindset going into overtime, getting to play five more minutes, and we took advantage of it.”
Tech returns to the court today at 2 p.m. CT to face Richmond.
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