City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen _McCue)
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OLNEY — Jhamir Brickus let one fly from the ‘E’ in the La Salle logo near half court during a timeout in the second half. Swish.

The long ball didn’t count. He was just calibrating, getting ready for the one that would a few feet closer and a few minutes later.

La Salle’s senior guard swished a three from outside NBA range with 27 seconds. The bucket proved to be the game-winner as the Explorers improved to 2-0 with a 79-74 win over Northeastern on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena

“I tossed that up just to get a little for my next shot,” Brickus said. “I definitely tested it, and then when my teammate hit me I was ready to knock it down.”

La Salle senior Jhamir Brickus, right, converts a bucket plus the foul Saturday against Northeastern. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Brickus poured in 18 point in La Salle’s season-opening win against Drexel on Tuesday and followed with 22 points and six rebounds against Northeastern.

The Coatesville product reeled off nine straight for the Explorers down the stretch in the win over Drexel. He played hero again late Saturday as he scored the final five points for La Salle.

Sophomore forward Rokas Jocius rejected a Northeastern shot following the clutch three, and Brickus coralled the rebound with 10 seconds left before sealing the win with a pair of free throws.

“It’s really just the flow of the game and my teammates looking for me and getting me the ball and me just taking off with that,” Brickus said of his clutch play to start the season.

The depth of Saturday’s shot did not surprise his teammates who see him can triples from even further out regularly in practice. They’ve also seen Brickus rise to the occasion many times other than just the last two wins.

“We definitely trust him,” senior guard Anwar Gill said. “He’s hit big shots all four years he’s been at La Salle, so we’re always looking towards him in clutch situations. And we did (again) and he delivered.”

Gill had another fine outing of his own to continue a strong start to his senior campaign. He tallied 15 points and four assists against Drexel and tallied another 15 points and seven assists against Northeastern.

The Explorers finished with 19 assists compared to four turnovers and didn’t turn the ball over in the second half. Junior guard Khalil Brantley joined Gill and Brickus leading the offense with 14 points and four assists.

“To have three guys in the game at one time who can break a defense down, drive and kick, that helps us immeasurably,” Dunphy said.

Joe Pridgen led Northeastern with 18 points, and Masai Troutman added another 17. The Explorers carried a 38-34 lead into halftime and led by as many as nine before Pridgen’s layup just past the four-minute mark gave Northeastern a 69-68 lead — the Huskies’ first since the 8:09 mark in the first half.

Gill found a cutting Daeshon Shepherd to answer but the Huskies tied the game three more times down the stretch. The last time came at 74-74 when Pridgen followed up an offensive board with 54 seconds left.

La Salle took care of the ball and shot it well on Saturday, finishing 48.3 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from the 3-point range. Northeastern’s work on the offensive glass kept the Huskies in the game and could have proved costly if not for Brickus’ big shot.

“We’re not gonna grow anytime before the end of the season,” Dunphy said. “Do me a favor, check the guy out. Be more physical. Let’s be smarter. Let’s be tougher. … They smashed us on the boards and at crucial times too.”

Shepherd was a spark with nine points and ignited the crowd with a couple of slams, a block and a three. Jocius couldn’t add onto his eight points early, but found a way to make an impact late with the block. Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi chipped in eight big points off the bench as well.

Saturday’s win gave La Salle its first 2-0 start since 2017-18. The Explorers won their first three that year before finishing 13-19, so there’s only so much that means for the future of the season.

That doesn’t matter to a senior group that’s out to prove people wrong after being picked last in the Atlantic-10 preseason poll. They haven't jumped out of the gates strong like this in their careers.

“It means a lot,” Gill said. “I was here four years and we never started out 2-0, so that’s a big thing for me and for (Jhamir) as well, and we just want to keep building. We want to put this win past us and move forward to the next game.”