Bracey's 25 leads La Tech past Fort Wayne 85-76 for title

Dec 22, 2017, 10:55 pm

NEW ORLEANS -- Daquan Bracey scored 25 points, Jacobi Boykins added 23 and Louisiana Tech defeat Fort Wayne 85-76 on Friday in the championship game of the New Orleans Shootout.

Oliver Powell added 17 points off the bench on 8-of-11 shooting as the Bulldogs (9-4) made 10 of 20 3-pointers and shot 52.5 percent (31 of 59). Boykins went 6 of 9 from 3-point range and Bracey had seven assists.

Scott Bryson had 27 points for the Mastodons (9-6) and Ken Harrell had 10.

The first half was the difference when Fort Wayne shot 38 percent (10 of 26) and the Bulldogs 57 percent (16 of 28) with five 3s for a 38-30 lead.

A 3-pointer by Jordon King pulled the Mastodons within 76-74 with 3:25 to play but then Bracey scored the next seven points, starting with three free throws at the 2:45 mark. He followed with a layup and two free throws at the 1:09 mark. Trailing by seven with just under a minute left, Fort Wayne kept La Tech off the board but missed two free throws and had a turnover before the Bulldogs' Exavian Christon got behind the defense for a dunk to close it out.