Philadelphia, PA-The first season of the John Giannini era officially ended today as the La Salle University men's basketball team was defeated by Xavier, 83-70, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championships in Cincinnati.  They finish the season at 10-19 overall, and were 5-11 in conference play.

 

The Explorers had some momentum early and led, 7-4, after a lay-up by forward Mike St. John (Northboro, MA/River School).  But the Musketeers, playing in their home city, responded with a 17-2 run that put them up 28-11.  La Salle scored the final eight points of the half, but still trailed, 38-27, at halftime.

 

The Musketeer lead blossomed to as many as 17 in the second half, but the Explorers refused to quit.  They trimmed the deficit to 71-63 with 4:17 to play, but a three-point attempt by St. John missed the mark and the Explorers would get no closer.

 

Jermaine Thomas (Frederick, MD/Thomas Johnson) finished with a game-high 25 points in 39 minutes.  Steven Smith (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast) added 20 points and 9 rebounds.  Freshman Tabby Cunningham (Philadelphia, PA/St. John Neuman) netted 10 points on 4-7 shooting and distributed six assists.         

 

Xavier shot 54% from the field and 17-19 (89%) from the foul line to seal the victory.  They were led by Justin Cage and Stanley Burrell, who scored 16 points apiece.

 

The Musketeers advance to play #1 seed Saint Joseph's in the semi-finals.  

 

Although the final loss was disappointing, the Explorers enter the off-season with a feeling of optimism.  Entering today's game, they were 5-4 in their last nine games and, despite playing with only 7 scholarship players, they were 4-1 in overtime games.  They also set a new school record for Atlantic 10 road victories.