City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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With a plethora of offensive weapons to chose from on his roster, La Salle head coach John Giannini isn’t worried in the slightest about who takes the big shots for his Explorers.

Instead, he’s much more concerned with what that shot looks like.

So it didn’t matter that it was Pookie Powell who hit the back-breaking 3-pointer in La Salle’s 74-66 win over Delaware on Tuesday night.

What mattered was that it was the exact type of shot the Explorers’ 13th-year coach wanted.

Coming out of a timeout with just under three minutes to play, after what had been a 13-point lead had been whittled down to just two by an upstart Blue Hens squad, the Explorers desperately needed a bucket. And it was Powell who found himself open at the top of the key on a swing pass from B.J. Johnson, so the 6-foot-tall redshirt sophomore let fly, hitting nothing but net.

“That was a catch-and-shoot, and he was open, and he knocked it down,” Giannini said. “That’s the kind of 3 we want -- I thought that was a great shot, it was a gutsy shot and it was a huge shot, but it was also a smart shot.”

La Salle wasn’t terrific from the floor in the win, going 26-of-59 (44.1 percent) overall and 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from 3-point range. They’ve got the weapons, for sure: six players scored seven-or-more, led by Jordan Price’s 15 and Powell’s 14. Johnson, who led the Explorers with 23 points in their season-opening loss to Temple, only had nine this time around.

But as of yet, it hasn’t translated fully into the potential that Giannini knows he has in this group.

“Offensively, we just can’t take jump shots off the dribble with a hand in our face,” he said. “It’s an atrocious play and we just do it too much...Pookie took an open shot, but it was a catch-and-shoot three. Taking 3s off the dribble with a hand in the face is not good.”

Much ado had been made about a new-look La Salle squad this year, featuring Powell, a Memphis transfer, and two others now eligible after leaving their old schools -- Henry (South Carolina) and Johnson (Syracuse).

But the Explorers lost their season opener to the cross-town rival Owls, 97-92 in overtime -- and looked in trouble again after 20 minutes against the Blue Hens, trailing 27-26 at halftime.

Redshirt junior guard Amar Stukes helped La Salle flip the momentum out of the break with an early steal and two quick layups, part of a 13-4 push by the Explorers to open the second half.

“Coach always emphasizes defense, so that’s the one thing I try to focus on, try to lead by setting a defensive example,” Stukes said. “So any ball I can get my hand on, any stop that I can get is key for our team, so I just tried to make any play I could on defense.”

That lead grew to as many as 51-38 with 10:06 to play, and it looked like La Salle would be able to put its foot down and cruise to victory.

Powell had a key play during that stretch as well, a drive from the top of the arc on a well-designed stagger screen that resulted in the 6-foot-tall point guard rising up and throwing down an emphatic dunk that fired up the 1,800-plus in attendance.

“I’ve known Pookie since the 10th grade since we’re both from Florida,” Henry said. “Back in high school, I’ve seen him do it a lot -- but since I’ve been at La Salle, nope.”

But a guard-heavy Delaware lineup began to push back, led by freshman guard Ryan Daly. The Archbishop Carroll product hit a quick 3-pointer to end the La Salle rush and kick off a quick 6-0 Delaware spurt; that once-large lead had already been whittled down to five with 3:36 left when Daly knocked down another right-wing triple to make it a one-possession contest before Powell’s clutch shot.

That was the last of Daly’s 19 points, which set a new early career standard and tied senior guard Cazmon Hayes for the team high. Due in part to junior guard Darian Bryant being out with a back injury, he played 30 minutes, shooting 8-of-14 overall and 3-of-7 from 3-point range while grabbing seven rebounds.

“I’m happy for Ryan Daly, he was in a terrific rhythm in the second half,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said of the defending Catholic League MVP. “I joked with him before the game and said he’s been really good in Philadelphia, so let’s go out and show that.”

Junior guard Anthony "Champ" Mosley addded 17 points and five assists as the third member of the team in double figures, but the remainder of the team only combined for 13 points.

Though the loss cost Delaware a chance to open a season 3-0 for the first time since 1999-2000, the Blue Hens weren’t too upset afterwards.

After all, this was a team that won just seven games a year ago and was picked to finish dead last in the CAA -- hanging with what should be an upper-half A-10 team on the road is a moral victory that the program will take at this point, even though it’s not the end goal.

“What a job Coach Ingelsby has done with that team,” Giannini said. “I know those guys and I’m happy for them, they’re going to surpass a lot of expectations.”

The Blue Hens, playing their third game in five days, don’t have much of a turnaround before another tiresome stretch. On Friday, they’ll head out to Miami (Ohio) for the first of three games in three days, playing the RedHawks, Northern Kentucky and Austin Peay on Miami’s home court.

“Trying to get some guys some rest, some guys logged a lot of minutes,” Ingelsby said. “We’re limited with the bodies we have now, but we’re trying to get some guys rest and improve as a basketball team on both ends of the floor.”