City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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No. 13 Miami came to the Palestra and steamrolled La Salle, 95-46, Tuesday afternoon – the worst loss in La Salle’s program history.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Explorers, who have not beat a Division-I team since winning their first three games of the season.

At first…
Miami never trailed in this one. The Hurricanes (10-1) dominated the first half in pretty much every statistical category, carrying a 40-22 lead into the halftime break. Neumann-Goretti product Ja’Quan Newton scored eight of his 10 points in the first half.

Turning point…
As if being up by 18 at halftime was not enough, the Hurricanes scored the first five points of the second half, the second two of which came when point guard Angel Rodriguez stole the inbounds pass and scored a layup after Sheldon McClellan nailed a 3-pointer. The Hurricanes opened the second half on a 15-3 run.

Shining stars…
Ivan Cruz Uceda finished with 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting and also grabbed six boards. Cruz Uceda is in his second year with the Canes after two at Harcum College in Bryn Mayr.
 

Noteworthy numbers…
In two games at the Palestra (vs. Penn and Miami), La Salle has been outscored by 61 points …Miami had four players in double figures (McClellan, Rodriguez, Cruz Uceda and Tonye Jekiri), while La Salle had zero. The leading scorer for the Explorers was Johnnie Shuler, who had nine. …Jordan Price, who entered scoring 24.6 points per game, was held to