City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)

La Salle, still only using seven scholarship players, cruised to a 73-60 victory against Rider on Tuesday night in Tom Gola Arena.

Jordan Price led all scorers with 28 points, and the Explorers led by as many as 21.

At first…
The game was tight for about the first 13 minutes. But the Explorers, led by Price and guard Johnnie Shuler, went on a 15-1 run late in the first half to go up 37-22. Price and Shuler combined for 24 points in the first half on 10-of-19 shooting and both hit a pair of 3-pointers. La Salle also forced 10 first-half turnovers and never allowed the Broncs to establish a rhythm offensively.

Turning point…
La Salle scored the first six points of the second half, the fifth and sixth of those points coming on a Price layup in traffic to put his team up 45-27. It was the third of three easy buckets to go on the short and early burst in the second half, and it made Rider’s uphill climb much steeper. It also allowed La Salle to slow things down offensively the rest of the way. For a team with just seven healthy players, that was key.

Standout stars…
Price was the leading scorer, but he was helped immensely on the offensive side by both Shuler and Cleon Roberts. Shuler was held to four points in the second half, but still ended the game with 14 on 5-of-10 shooting and added eight rebounds. Roberts, meanwhile, had 18 points and was an efficient 7-of-10 from the field.

Noteworthy numbers…
La Salle had just three second-half fouls. After the Explorers committed 24 fouls in their opener, it was essential that they stayed out of trouble with the whistles against Rider with another shallow bench. Price is averaging 27.5 points through the first two games.

Up next...
La Salle (2-0) vs. Lafayette (11/23)
Rider (0-2) @ Maryland (11/20)