PHILADELPHIA, PA - On the eve of their final home meet of the 2005-06 season, the La Salle Explorers men's swimming and diving team posted a 131-106 victory over the visiting Duquesne Dukes on Friday afternoon at Kirk Pool.

Junior Sean Connors-McBride posted three first place finishes in La Salle's victory.  His first win came in the fourth event of the meet, crossing the finish line in the 1,000-yard freestyle event with a time of 9:46.22.  Duquesne's Chris Kobela finished behind Connors-McBride with a time of 9:48.7s followed by La Salle's Matt Magee claiming third place with a time of 10:17.50.  Connors-McBride also claimed the gold in the 100-yard freestyle event with a time of 52.81.  The Explorers also earned points in the 100-yard event with Grant Chin finishing third (53.61) and Reed Inglee coming in fourth (53.73).  Rounding out the three-peat, Connors-McBride brought home a first place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.92, beating out Kobela for the second time in the meet.

Senior Emir Hubijar added a victory in the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1:45.98, and was the only Explorer to finish in the top three.

Also providing first place points for the Explorers was Grant Chin in the 200-yard individual medley, crossing the finish line in a time of 1:56.45.  Senior Jack McCaffery finished third with a time of 2:01.96.

The Explorers fared well in the 100-yard breaststroke, with Kevin Whelan claiming the top spot with a time of 1:01.74 and David Ellerson just one one hundredth of a second behind at 1:01.75.  Senior Tom Smyth took third place and completed the sweep with a time of 1:02.76.

Despite Duquesne fielding no divers, La Salle's Karo Isajan posted two-first place victories.  In the 1-meter event, Isajan tallied 214.20 points and in the 3-meter finished with 200.40 points.

The Explorers will close out the 2005-06 home season on Saturday, January 21st when they host the Fordham Rams at Kirk Pool at 12:00 p.m.  Seniors Jeff Basolis, Emir Hubijar, Jack McCaffery, Tom Smyth, Matt Starr and John Zayaitz will be honored before the meet.