Darnell Harris (Baltimore, MD/St. Frances) and Yves Mekongo Mbala (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick's) each scored a dozen points but it was freshman Jerrell Williams (Paterson, NJ/Northfield Mount Hermon) who gave the Explorers a two possession lead at 64-51 with eight seconds to play with an offensive rebound and put-back lay-up,

 

Williams and Harris combined to score the final ten La Salle points over the last seven minutes and 17 seconds of play.

 

Harris, who hit a pair of three-pointers in the game's first five minutes, did not score again until he made a jumper with 7:17 to play that gave his team a 58-51 lead.  His two made free throws with eight seconds left gave the Explorers a cushion at 66-61.

 

Jeremy Goode made a lay-up with 1.2 seconds remaining to cut the lead to three and Mekongo Mbala stepped on the line on the ensuing inbounds to turn the ball over and set up Vann's would-be game-tying shot which fell short.  Vann had made four out of five from beyond the arc in the first half but missed all six of his three-point attempts in the second half.

 

For the second game in as many collegiate starts Jerrell Williams scored 10 points.  He also pulled nine rebounds to fall a board shy of his first double-double.  Rodney Green (Philadelphia, PA/Prep Charter) scored 11 points as the Explorers put four scorers in double-digits.

 

The Explorers are back on the road on Tuesday night when they travel to Howard with a 7:00 PM tip-off in Washington, DC.