Cohadarevic leads Tech to win against Stephen F. Austin, 63-61
NACOGDOCHES — Each shot Darko Cohadarevic took during pregame warmups missed its mark. Yet with every brick, he became more relaxed.
Cohadarevic
“I know the games when in the warmup I cannot hit anything,” Cohadarevic said, “those are the games I cannot miss.”
The senior forward found his rhythm Tuesday, scoring a career-high 18 points to lead Texas Tech to a 63-61 win against Stephen F. Austin. It was the Red Raiders’ first road victory since the 2007-08 season.
Cohadarevic averaged 9.4 points in Tech’s first five games, a huge step up from his 3.5 points per game as a junior. He’s started every game this season, and is playing with more consistency and control than in the past.
Even before Tuesday’s tip-off, Cohadarevic was relaxed, laughing during pregame layups and dancing along with the Stephen F. Austin band. On the court, coach Pat Knight said he played with enthusiasm, even after Tech (6-0) got off to a tough start.
The Lumberjacks (1-2) took a 6-0 lead before Cohadarevic made a jump shot to put the Raiders on the board. Three of Tech’s first five points came on free throws, and after eight and a half minutes Tech had made just 2-of-10 field goals while SFA was 8-of-12.
Tech scored seven consecutive points to take the lead, and by halftime led 33-27.
Jereal Scott made a layup for the Lumberjacks to open the second half, but the Raiders went on a 10-0 run and led 45-29 with 16:18 on the clock. But SFA answered with an 8-0 stretch of its own, making it a five-point game with 6:40 left.
Cohadarevic, already in double digits, said he began trying to post up rather than screen to create open shots for his teammates. He said it was a major reason the Lumberjacks got back within reach.
But Knight looked to his bench, subbing in Robert Lewandowski and Corbin Ray.
The depth to do that is one of Knight’s favorite aspects of this year’s team.
“Lew and Corbin, they gave us some good minutes, then Darko got his stuff together on the bench, came back in and played well,” Knight said. “I think that’s the best thing, if your kid’s struggling, the bench is almost like brain surgery.”
Tech led by just two points with 2:48 to go, but David Tairu made a 3-pointer to stretch it. Still, SFA made a layup to cut the lead to three with 38 seconds remaining, and Tech had to foul to take time off the clock during what could have been SFA’s last possession.
Jordan Glynn tried for a layup after Eddie Williams banked a free throw with three seconds remaining, but D’wayln Roberts grabbed the ball and hugged it to his chest as Tech got the elusive road win.
Williams and Scott lead the Lumberjacks with 19 and 15 points, respectively.
John Roberson was in double digits with 14 points and a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the night. Mike Singletary added nine points and six rebounds, and Tairu had eight points and four boards.
Cohadarevic, who scored 12 points in last year’s 69-55 win against the Lumberjacks, said he was disappointed he grabbed just three rebounds, despite the career-high scoring.
“I should go for boards more,” he said. “This should not happen again.”
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Wow, a road win. Way to hang on to the end (even though you blew a big lead).
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A road win against SFU at that!!! Just barely got it too. Maybe we stack the wins against these NAIA, DII and DI-AA before conference starts.
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Mike, Stephen F. Austin is Division I (Southland Conference). They actually were in the Tournament last year…
But even though it was on the road last night, what I saw didn’t impress me that much.
Washington on the 3rd will be this team’s first real challenge of the year. Hopefully Roberson can hold his own against Isiah Thomas.
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Still undefeated! Keep it rolling, Raiders!
Wreck ‘em Tech
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Just a reminder, we do not have a spotless record against SFA. This was a good win for a team trying to find a winning identity. If you haven’t noticed, many other teams including ranked teams have had trouble and either eaked out wins or got beat in their first 6 games. This team is much better than it was last year. There is alot of grit, athleticism and leadership on this team.
We may not win the National or Big 12 Championship but we will do much better than the 9th place that we were projected to be. We are recruiting much better and there is definitely a defensive mindset and an intensity about this team that I have not seen in several years. So far, so good for Pat Knight.
He and THEY deserve our support and attendance.
WRECK EM TECH!
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I’m not terribly impressed with this win against SFA, but it is still a victory –and road victory at that! I have never been one of the nay-sayers who complain about Pat Knight. He is a very savvy basketball coach who knows that with time and patience he cn build a great basketball program. We are already beginning to see this in the defensive mindset of this team and in the growing athleticism of TTU’s recruits. I am very proud his steady progress and the fact that he takes responsibility for his team. I wish that I were seeing the same progress with the Lady Raiders and Curry. This team has the potential to put together a dream season if it plays EVERY game with heart and leaves it all on the floor. This team is better than the one who beat Kansas at home, and they just have to work hard and believe that. Number 9 in the Big 12? They can do much better than that!
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one step at a time red raiders! keep it goin, now we’ve got the away game losing burden off of us just keep winning and get ready for the big teams. all you can ask for is a win and thats what we got,
GO TECH
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Basketball is not like football. Much more parody in Basketball. Anytime you get a road win against a DI school, you should be grateful. By the way, SFA was in the Big Dance last year. THis was probably the 2nd best team we have played all year. If it wasn’t for that 6 minute stretch in the 2nd half, this would have been a dominant ball game for the Red Raiders. But on the road, you can’t expect to dominate for 40 minutes. You just have to put yourself in position to win and finish it out……which is what they did. Great job Red Raiders!
Why is everyone so negative on these message boards?
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Ben, because most people on here don’t understand bball. NAIA d1 d2, these smaller schools still can have great bball teams. Not like football at all. Tech is doing well, and pat has his team building a winners attitude. Keep it going pat!
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This guy’s 6′10″ and pulled down THREE rebounds and played most of the game against shorter players!!! Coming to a theater near you, Darko and Woody Harrelson starring in that popular movie, “White Men Can’t Jump”! Pathetic
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I understand basketball, just very frustrated at the low expectations with this program. So SFA was in the Big Dance last year, all conference tournament winners get a bid. Doesn’t mean that much. I hope I am wrong and the Raiders have a break out year.
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