City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Most fans of La Salle have already started thinking about next season when the Explorers will have a much deeper roster and a more competitive team.

They’ll also get to put the 2015-16 season behind them, which, with a month left, has already been a long campaign. The Explorers have just one win since the end of November and are consistently getting beat by double-digits in the Atlantic 10.

But La Salle still has six regular season games left (starting Wednesday vs. St. Bonaventure) as well as the A-10 Tournament. And the two players who probably can gain the most out of the season’s last month are the two first-year players getting minutes for the Explorers: forward Yevgen Sakhniuk and guard Karl Harris.

While the results have not been there for La Salle, both Sakhniuk and Harris have played two of the best games of their respective college careers in the last week.

Last Wednesday against Davidson, Sakhniuk--a sophomore who sat out last year for an NCAA year in residence due to the level he played in Europe before coming to the States--returned to the court after missing 12 consecutive games due to an illness. He was played well in a 79-66 loss, scoring a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting in 23 minutes – also the high-water mark of his young career. It was a promising sign for the Kiev, Ukraine native in his first game since Dec. 22.

Sakhniuk played 20 more minutes in a Saturday night loss to St. Joseph’s. Limited by some foul trouble, the 6-foot-7 forward scored five points to go with four boards and three assists, but afterward coach John Giannini noted Sakhniuk is still “far from 100 percent.”

“He’s healthy enough to play. But he’s only played for a few days in the last few months,” Giannini said. “So he still has some things he’s taking care of medically.”

Sakhniuk – who sat out last season due an NCAA mandated year of residence -- has played in a total of 11 games this season, averaging 7.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. And, if he remains healthy enough to play, he’ll have seven more opportunities to use as stepping stone for the 2016-17 season.

So too does Harris, a true freshman from Chicago who scored his career high on Saturday against the Hawks. Harris hit four of his six 3-point attempts for 12 points against St. Joe’s in a game where the Hawks led by as many as 30 in the second half. And in that kind of contest where there were a lot of disgruntled players on the La Salle sideline, Giannini was pleased with what he what he saw from Harris.

“I can’t think of anyone tonight other than Karl Harris that truly showed consistent mental toughness and composure and competitiveness,” the coach said. “I think we broke, I think they broke our spirit. ..The competitiveness wasn’t there, and Karl Harris was a wonderful exception to that.”

The 12-point showing from Harris came after he did not see any minutes against Davidson, though he has played at least 16 minutes in three of the Explorers’ last seven games. The freshman has made only nine of his 32 3-point attempts this season, but the St. Joe’s game showed flashes that he could be a go-to shooter for La Salle down the road.

With the way Harris played Saturday night, it seems like he could earn more court time moving forward. And the Explorers will take those positive signs this season.

“Next year seems like a long ways away, but trust me, we’re not going to stand pat,” Giannini said. “In my mind, we need to see significant changes in addition to Yevgen getting healthy and the three transfers, we have to do anything we can to get our roster better.”