Posted by: Kale Beers
New Britain, CT -- The La Salle Explorers (5-2) saw six players set career-highs including junior Rodney Green's (Philadelphia, PA/Prep Charter) game-high 25 points and senior Mike St. John (Northboro, MA/River School) 10 assists enroute to an 86-73 victory over Central Connecticut State (3-8) on Saturday afternoon at Detrick Gym.
After trading leads six times in the first half, freshman Yves Mekongo Mbala (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick's) hit a jumper with 12:32 left to give the Explorers a 17-16 lead. They would not trail again despite CCSU cutting the lead to two points late in the second half.
A force in the first half was another freshman Brian Grimes (Ft. Washington, PA/Germantown Ac., Brewster) who set a career-high before the first half ended with 11 points in the opening frame, on his way to a game-total of 13 points. Six of those points came in 58 seconds when he scored on a pair of lay-ups, drew a foul and made the ensuing free throws at the 13:23 mark.
Mekongo Mbala was the third Explorer in double digits with 13 points to go with his eight rebounds.
For the first time this season leading scorer junior Darnell Harris (Baltimore, MD/St. Frances) was held scoreless in the first half and finished with six points - four of which came from the free throw line in the closing minutes.
The big story, however, was Green who scored the game's first six points and is now shooting .662 from the field on the season (43-65) and is leading the Explorers with an average of 16.6 points per game.
St. John also contributed nine points in the win. Freshman Ruben Guillandeaux (Brooklyn, NY/St. Patrick's), who made his first career start and answered with a personal-best nine points.
The Explorers held the Blue Devils to a season-low 35.3% shooting.
Next up for the Explorers is their first all-time meeting with Morgan State on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM at Tom Gola Arena. The game will be part of a day-night twinbill as the La Salle women will host Miami (OH) at 1:00 PM.
