Louisiana Tech got double-digit scoring from four different players and held on to a double-digit halftime lead en route to a 73-63 victory over McNeese State on Saturday afternoon at the Thomas Assembly Center.

“This was a good win for us tonight,” Tech head coach Kerry Rupp said. “It’s good to end the preseason on a high note and move in the right direction. We want to give a good effort and enthusiasm and compete the entire time.”

Tech (3-9) shot 48.8 percent for the game, including a 7-of-12 outing from 3-point range (58.3 percent). It was the 10th win for the Bulldogs in their last 11 meetings with the Cowboys (6-6).

The Cowboys were dominant on the boards with a 40-25 edge, but the Bulldogs won the turnover battle as they only had eight in the contest. Tech also took care of business at the free throw stripe, knocking down 24 of 33 attempts, season highs in both categories.

Dwayne Lathan led all scorers with a career-high 19 points in just 19 minutes off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Kyle Gibson pitched in 18 on 5-of-6 shooting, including a 3-for-4 night from 3-point range.

“Dwayne has stayed positive all season long,” Rupp said. “He puts in the extra time and effort and does not give up. He’s a tremendous athlete. It all boils down to competing and giving good energy, and he did those things tonight.”

Keith Smith equaled a career high with 15 points in 29 minutes and set a new career mark with a team-best eight rebounds. Jonathan “J.C.” Clark added 10 points for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but went cold over the next five minutes as McNeese went on a 15-0 run to take a 17-10 lead. Tech, however, would turn the tables with a 15-2 run of their own over the final 6:34 to end the half with a 33-22 lead.

“We did a great job with penetration and got some good looks tonight,” Rupp said. “We’ve been working on getting good shots in the paint and finishing. I was proud of our effort and competitiveness tonight.”

Tech turned the ball over three straight trips down the floor to begin the second half, allowing the Cowboys to cut the lead to seven. But McNeese would get no closer the rest of the way as the Bulldogs did not have a turnover in the final 18:30 of the contest.

Jarvis Bradley led the Cowboys with 16 points and 11 rebounds, his third double-double of the season. John Ford and Ruston native Adrien Garr added 11 apiece.

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Freshman Tarkeisha Wysinger scored a career-high 24 points to lead Louisiana Tech to a 93-58 win over Sam Houston State at Bernard Johnson Coliseum Saturday evening.

Sophomore Shanavia Dowdell added a career-high 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Tech (5-7) ended its five-game losing streak which dated back to a Dec. 5 win at Alabama.

Tech shot 55 percent (36-65) from the field for the game, including over 50 percent in both halves on its way to recording a season-high in points.

“We needed a game like this,” said Tech head coach Chris Long. “We needed some confidence and to shoot the basketball as well as we did. Hopefully this performance will give us the confidence we need. I was able to play everyone which was also good.”

Wysinger scored 18 points in the first half in leading the Lady Techsters to a 49-29 halftime advantage. Tech scored the first nine points of the game before Sam Houston State (1-11) hit their first field goal with just over 17 minutes to play.

“I continue to see improvement in Tarkeisha’s game,” Long said. “She came off a couple of on ball screens tonight and hit 15 foot jumpers. If she can start to do that consistently, she will be extremely hard to defend.”

The Techsters led 30-13 midway through the opening 20 minutes. Tech pushed the advantage out to 43-19 before entering the lockerroom with the 20-point lead.

“We came out and got off to a great start,” Long said. “We had a couple of periods late in the first half and early in the second where we didn’t execute as well. Overall, I think we made strides as a team.”

Sam Houston State started the second half cutting the Tech advantage to 53-37 before the Lady Techsters answered with 10-0 run to grab a 63-37 lead with 12:01 to play.

Tech held its biggest lead at 93-54 before settling for the 35-point win.

Jo Sneed added her eighth double double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Nastassja Levingston also added 12 points.

Tech outrebounded Sam Houston State 61-30, including a 36-10 advantage on the boards in the second half.

Sam Houston State hit only 30 percent (21-69) of its field goals in the game, however, the Bearkats made 7-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Brittany Brooks led Sam Houston State with 16 points.

Tech closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule Monday afternoon with a 1 p.m. tipoff against McNeese State.