Jan. 14, 2009

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Terrell Williams (Paterson, NJ/Northfield Mount Hermon) registered a double-double and five Explorers scored in double figures to lead La Salle past Charlotte 68-61 Wednesday night at Halton Arena. The win marks the first in the all-time series for La Salle (9-6, 1-1 Atlantic 10).

Williams netted 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting and pulled down 11 boards. Ruben Guillandeaux (Brooklyn, NY/St. Patrick's) led the Explorers with 14 points. Kimmani Barrett (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) added 12 while Yves Mekongo Mbala (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick's) and Rodney Green (Philadelphia, PA/Prep Charter) put in 11 apiece.

Charlotte's Lamont Mack poured in 23 to lead all scorers.

The Explorers led by eight with just under two minutes to go, but the 49ers cut the deficit in half on four Mack free throws. Guillandeaux responded with a 3-point shot and four free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the game.

The Explorers helped their cause by outrebounding the home squad 50-25 and scored 27 second-chance points to the 49ers' five. In addition to Williams' 11 caroms, Mekongo Mbala pulled down nine and Vernon Goodridge (Brooklyn, NY/Mississippi State) added eight. Goodridge also blocked three shots.

Baskets were hard to come by for the majority of the night. La Salle was held to 40 percent shooting while holding Charlotte (5-10, 0-2 Atlantic 10) to 38.9 percent.

The Explorers continue their road swing at #15/15 Xavier at noon on Sunday.