City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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La Salle won back-to-back games for the first time since mid-November, knocking down 12 3-pointers as the Explorers downed Saint Louis, 76-68 on Wednesday night in their final home game of the year.

At First...
La Salle welcomed Saint Louis to Tom Gola Arena with a lockdown defensive effort for the majority of the opening half, which ended with the Explorers up 31-25. Saint Louis--which entered the night second-worst in the A-10 in scoring offense (65.1 ppg), ahead of only La Salle (63.3 ppg) was just 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from the floor in the first half, committing nine turnovers to boot.

Turning Point…
After La Salle’s lead grew to 10 to open the second half, a 7-0 run cut that advantage down to three with 14:45 remaining. But the Explorers responded with three 3-pointers in 94 seconds, getting two by Cleon Roberts and one from Johnnie Shuler that pushed the lead to 51-39; another triple by Roberts made it 58-41 with 9:28 remaining, capping off a 16-2 run.

Saint Louis did make a late push, getting within five points (73-68) with 50 seconds remaining on the second 3-pointer by sophomore guard Davell Roby in the final two minutes of play, but couldn't muster another point as La Salle closed it out with foul shots.

Standout Stars…
Roberts, a 6-foot-5 redshirt junior, set a new career mark with six 3-pointers made, to help him to a 23-point outing that was his second-highest output of the season. The Georgia Southern transfer, now in his second year wearing an Explorers uniform, has hit double-figures in all but six games this year. Shuler, a 6-0 sophomore, finished one of his career mark with 15 points; redshirt junior Jordan Price (12) and redshirt sophomore Tony Washington (11) rounded out the Explorers in double figures.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
70: The few times that La Salle has gotten to the 70-point mark, the Explorers have generally been pretty successful. The Explorers improved to 7-3 when getting there, with only one win (61-57 vs. Dayton on Jan. 9) coming with an output below that number.

Up Next…
La Salle (8-20, 4-13 Atlantic 10) @ Massachusetts (March 5, 8 PM)
Saint Louis (10-19, 5-12 Atlantic 10) vs. St. Bonaventure (March 5, 7 PM)