GAME NOTES: The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic continues on Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center, as the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs take on the American University Eagles.

The round-robin style tournament will have Louisiana Tech, American, Morehead State and Presbyterian all playing one another during the three-game event.

American began its stay in this event with an emphatic victory on Friday night, making easy work of Presbyterian, 63-38. After losing their opener at Temple (40-37), the Eagles have ripped off two straight wins to pull above .500.

As the event's host, Louisiana Tech defended its home floor on Friday night with a 73-64 victory over Morehead State. The Bulldogs also successfully avenged a road loss to Temple (82-75) earlier in the week and are now 2-1 on the season.

American and Louisiana Tech will meet for the first-ever time in this matchup.

Although American led by just four early in the second half on Friday night, they took control down the stretch by ending the game on a 35-14 run to capture the 25-point victory. Despite the low score, the squad shot an impressive 48.9 percent from the field, which included an 11-of-21 showing from 3-point range. John Scoff was especially hot from beyond the arc (5-of-6) on his way to 19 points, while Kevin Panzer and Jeese Reed netted 16 and 14 points, respectively.

Generating offense has not been the Eagles' specialty this season, as they put up a mere 49.7 ppg, but at least they are trending in the right direction in scoring more points with every passing game. Schoof accounts for nearly a third of the team's scoring with 15.0 ppg. Reed is also heavily called upon with 12.7 ppg.

The Bulldogs carried an eight-point lead into intermission of their matchup with Morehead State on Friday and never surrendered that advantage the rest of the way en route to the nine-point win, pulling away by as many as 18 down the stretch. They outshot MSU from the field, 46.8 percent to 32.9 percent, and outscored it at the free-throw line, 25-10. Leading the way was Erik McCree with 16 points to go with seven rebounds. Raheem Appleby netted 13 points, Xavian Stapleton came off the bench to score 11 and Kenneth Smith tallied nine points, seven assists and five rebounds.

On the season, Louisiana Tech shoots less than 43 percent from the field, but it still manages to pour in an impressive 77.7 ppg. Appleby is the go-to option with 18.0 ppg, although he's making less than 40 percent of his shots overall. McCree logs 15.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg, Smith stuffs the stat sheet with 10.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 6.0 apg, and Alex Hamilton (11.7 ppg) is also a big piece.

Louisiana Tech not only has the home crowd at its back but it is also a more talented team than American, meaning another victory should be in the cards.