City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Will Slover (@WillSlover21)
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The La Salle Explorers got their first win of the season in their home opener in a 74-68 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens at Tom Gola Arena on Tuesday night. 

At First…
In a back-and-forth first half that consisted of eight lead changes and three ties, Delaware took a 27-26 lead into halftime. Neither team was very impressive before the intermission, with the two teams shooting a combined 21-of-56 (.375) from the field and 6-of-21 (.285) from beyond the arc.. Delaware guard Cazmon Hayes was exceptional in the first half, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Coming up big for the Explorers were their leading scorers from a year ago, Jordan Price and Cleon Roberts who went into the half with eight and seven, respectively. 

La Salle opened up the second half going on a 13-4 run in the first 5:30 to flip the Blue Hens’ 27-26 halftime lead around to 39-33 in favor of the Explorers. The Explorers opened up the second half shooting 7-of-11 from the field in the first eight minutes and they saw their lead grow to as many as 13, 51-38 with just over 10 minutes left. Delaware made a big push, however, thanks to freshman guard Ryan Daly, who canned three triples to help the Blue Hens cut that advantage down to two (63-61) with 3:18 to play.

Turning Point…
After that final Daly triple, a much-needed timeout seemed to settle La Salle down. Out of the break, Pookie Powell drilled a triple which was followed by a Demetrius Henry dunk that put the Explorers back up by seven with 2:13 remaining. After hitting three free throws to cut the lead to four with 1:30 remaining, the Blue Hens had to resort to fouling and the Explorers responded by hitting six free throws in the last minute to seal the deal.

Standout Stars…
La Salle senior Jordan Price did what he does best, scoring 15 points and adding in five rebounds and three assists as well.Redshirt junior guard Amar Stukes had a strong all-around game with eight points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals against just one turnover, coming up with several key defensive plays to help La Salle get going early in the second half. Redshirt sophomore Pookie Powell had 14 points, six rebounds and six assists without a turnover.

Delaware senior Cazmon Hayes got rolling with a personal 7-0 run in the first half, as the 6-4 guard did a good job of taking advantage of mismatches to get to the rim and score. The third-year starter out of Charlotte (N.C.), surpassed his previous season high of 16 points with just under seven minutes to play, finishing with 19. Freshman guard Ryan Daly, playing his first game back in Philadelphia since graduating from Archbishop Carroll in the spring, matched Hayes with 19 of his own on 8-of-14 shooting and also adding in seven rebounds along the way. 

Noteworthy Number(s)...
7: La Salle had six players score at least seven points in the win, part of nine members of the rotation who chipped in offensively in the win. Price, Powell and Henry (11 points) finished in double figures, while Stukes, Johnson and Roberts also all hit the scoring benchmark.

Up Next…
La Salle (1-1) vs. Texas Southern (1-1) -- Sat., Nov. 19, 3 PM
Delaware (2-1) @ Miami (Ohio) (1-0) -- Fri., Nov. 18, 7 PM