San Jose St. 64, Louisiana Tech 62

3/11/2008 10:30 PM

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -DaShawn Wright scored 17 points and gave eighth-seeded San Jose State the edge it needed to defeat ninth-seeded Louisiana Tech 64-62 in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday.

Wright was one of four Spartans who contributed double-digit points as San Jose State went 26-for-57 from the field. Tim Pierce finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, C.J. Webster had 13 points and eight rebounds and Chris Oakes scored 11 points.

It was a free throw by Pierce that gave San Jose State (13-18, 5-12 WAC) a 63-62 lead with 1:24 left to play. Freshman Justin Graham followed up with another free throw for the Sartans to seal the win.

San Jose State out-rebounded Louisiana Tech (6-24, 3-14 WAC) by a margin of 11 but the Bulldogs used 12-of-26 shooting from the 3-point arc to stay in the game. Overall, Louisiana Tech was 23-of-57 from the field.

Louisiana Tech junior Drew Washington led the charge as he hit a 3-pointer that brought the Bulldogs within a single point, 58-57. He followed less than 30 seconds later with a 2-point bucket and a trip to the foul line. He made the shot to put Louisiana Tech on top, 60-58.

Junior J.C. Clark led Louisiana Tech with 17 points, sophomore Kyle Gibson added 14 points and Washington finished with 13 points.

Pierce scored 13 points as he went 4-for-4 from the foul line and led San Jose State to a 31-27 halftime advantage.

Louisiana Tech countered the Spartan offense with four 3-pointers to account for almost half of the Bulldogs' first-half points. Clark kept Louisiana Tech close in the opening half with nine points, all from 3-point range.