City of Basketball Love

Jerome Taylor (@ThatGuy_Rome)
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La Salle was up nine points with about eight minutes to go when Sacred Heart’s Alex Watson and Tyler Thomas picked up technical fouls on the same possession, giving the Explorers a chance to stretch the lead to 13. 

But then Josh Nickelberry, who had been the Explorer’s best performer to that point, bricked both of his free throws. Freshman guard Khalil Brantley followed suit, going 0-for-2 on his technical opportunities, and the game was never the same after that empty trip. 

“When we got the four free throws, and we missed them, all four... I felt like that sort of kind of sucked the air out of the whole building,” La Salle head coach Ashley Howard said afterward.  

The following possession, Sacred Heart drilled a 3-pointer. That seven-point swing set the stage for a game-tying buzzer-beater and a disappointing 86-81 overtime loss for the Explorers in their season and home opener.

La Salle had been ahead for most of the game outside of a couple of lead changes in the first minutes of the contest. But as the momentum shifted, the Explorers’ season-opening victory slipped through their hands.

“When we got our lead, we didn't handle it the right way, and we gave Sacred Heart some momentum and [Sacred Heart] got some talented guys,” Howard said. “Once they got that momentum, they capitalized on it, and I thought they played unbelievable… our guys never recovered.”

Within the last minute of regulation, the Explorers had another opportunity to close out the game when Brantley got a whistle to send him to the line for a 1-and-1 free throw to extend the lead to four or possibly five.

But Brantley missed, and the Pioneers got out in transition. After missing their first attempt at an above-the-break 3-pointer, Nico Galette grabbed an offensive rebound and found Aaron Clarke, who drilled a corner triple at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. 

“Plenty of teachable moments. A great learning opportunity for our guys, we’ll be better,” Howard said, “But now the season’s here, so it’s got to be a quick turnaround and quick recovery.”

Free throws won’t be the only thing that the Explorers will spend time rehashing as they prepare for Saturday’s matchup against Auburn. They also have work to do on the defensive end as well.

In the first half of Tuesday’s game, La Salle held the Pioneers to 26 points; in the second half, the number ballooned to 41. Thomas gashed the Explorers for 24 points and 11 rebounds; Bryce Johnson added 11 points and 10 rebounds to give Sacred Heart two players with double-doubles.

“It's just intensity and pride and just focus right where like, I'm just not letting you beat me,” Howard said about how the team’s defense improves. “I'm going to sit down in the stance, guard this guy… a lot of the things that we talk about every day in practice.

However disappointing this loss is for a program that is looking for its first winning season since 2014-15, there were still bright spots. Nickelberry scored a career-high 22 points (on 8-17 from the field, including 6-11 from deep) after an injury-ridden tenure at Louisville. Jack Clark had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and last year’s A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, Sherif Kenney, was 4-of-5 from 3-point range for 18 points.

There were even moments where Howard liked the way his team played defensively.

“There were times where we were really good on defense, we were suffocating on defense, Howard said.“We’ve just got to figure out a way to play out a complete game, a 40-minute game, not a 32-minute game.”

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Explorer women fall short in opener

On the women’s side, in a game that came down to the final shot, the Explorers were defeated 73-70 by Coppin State. La Salle led for most of the first half but couldn’t overcome their 18 turnovers (including eight in the second quarter) or their poor shooting night, going 10-for-39 (.256) from 3-point range.

“We really didn’t shoot the ball well from three which is a hallmark of what we do,” head coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “We can survive at 36-37%, we shoot 40% we’re going to win, but if you shoot in the low 30s it’s tough to win basketball games.”

The Explorers found themselves playing from behind for most of the final two frames, but La Salle got the game to within a basket after being down seven with 2:23 remaining. But when Molly Masciantonio’s shot was blocked at the buzzer, the Explorers’ comeback bid was cut short. 

Kayla Spruill paced the Explorers with 16 points, and the senior guard also recorded a career-high 17 rebounds. After several seasons of not being a good rebounding team, La Salle has made the boards a point emphasis this year and outrebounded the Eagles 44-40, which is one of the positives that MacGillivray took from the defeat as the Explorers look to bounce back on Saturday against Rider.