Final Stats
Feb. 14, 2007
Philadelphia, PA -- The La Salle Explorers (10-16, 3-9) get major win to stay alive in the Atlantic 10 post-season play-off hunt with 77-72 victory over the Temple Owls (11-13, 5-7) on Wednesday night at Tom Gola Arena.
Just 10 days after the Explorers dropped a 25-point defeat to these same Owls the Explorers got 24 points from junior Darnell Harris (Baltimore, MD/St. Frances) who came off the bench for the first time to drill four three-pointers and seal the win with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to finish eight-for-eight from the stripe.
Current Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Kimmani Barrett (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) came up large in the win with a career-high 19 points and was also clutch from the stripe with an 11-for-14 performance. The Explorers shot 26-for-34 from the stripe for 76.5 % - over 9% better than their season average.
The teams swapped the lead four times in the first 20 minutes as the Explorers led by as many as seven points. Mark Tyndale paced the Owls for 15 points while the high-scoring duo of Dustin Salisbery and Dionte Christmas were held to just eight points - all by Christmas. Both players fouled out in the second half.
The Explorers rallied from a seven point hole with 9.18 to play when Paul Johnson (Washington, DC/Gonzaga) hit a pair of free throws enroute to a 13-point effort and then dominated the offensive boards for four-second-chances shots in the next two minutes ending with Barrett sticking a put-back to bring his team to within a point at 62-61 with six minutes left on the clock.
Out of the break Barrett capitalized on a foul after Yves Mekongo Mbala's (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick) offensive board with two more made foul shots to give the Explorers the lead at 63-62.
The team's swapped leads on the next five possessions until Tyndale committed an offensive foul to put Barrett back on the line where he converted two more shots. The Explorers would not trail again.
Barrett scored 13 of his points in the second half and buried six of eight free throws in the game's final three minutes of play.
The win brings the Explorers even with Saint Bonaventure for the 12th and final berth inte the A-10 Tournament next month in Atlantic City. The Bonnies own the tie-breaking after defeating the Explorers earlier this season.
The Explorers also managed to defeat La Salle alum Fran Dunphy for the first time in six attempts - going back to a 61-59 win over Dunphy's Penn Quakers in December of 2000.
Next up for the Explorers is their debut at A-10 newcomer Saint Louis in a Saturday evening affair at the Savvis Center at 8:00 PM EST.
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