Dec. 21, 2009

Box Score

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - La Salle got off to a slow start and never recovered in falling to Oklahoma State, 77-62, in the nightcap of the 74th All-College Classic on Monday evening at the Ford Center. Senior Rodney Green scored a team-high 22 points to earn All-College Classic honors, while classmate Kimmani Barrett scored 15 points to become the 47th Explorer to reach 1,000 points.

"Tremendous credit goes to Oklahoma State," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "They beat us in every facet of the game. They out-rebounded us and they defended hard. When we would chip into things, they would step up and hit shots and make plays. They were clearly a better team tonight."

Green dished four assists to join Lionel Simmons as the only La Salle players with at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Only 10 other Big 5 players have accumulated those numbers. It was also his sixth 20-point game of the season, tops in the Atlantic 10.

He now has 1,567 points, moving him past Billy Taylor (1972-75) into 18th place on the all-time scoring list. Next up is Hubie Marshall (1964-67) with 1,576. Barrett's three-pointer with 6:57 remaining in the first half moved him into the 1,000-point club. He is now in 46th place on the all-time list and just six points short of George Paull (1964-67) and Bob Fields (1969-71), who each scored 1,016 points at La Salle.

La Salle (7-4) missed 18 of its first 20 shots from the field and trailed 26-9 with 7:22 to play before halftime. A 17-7 run to close the half was tempered by James Anderson's three-pointer at the buzzer to extend the lead back to 10 points. Anderson had a game-high 28 points and was named the All-College Classic Most Outstanding Player. Marshall Moses (18 points) joined him on the All-College Classic team.

The Explorers cut the deficit to single digits three times in the second half, but could get no closer than eight points as the Cowboys (10-1) had an answer at each juncture. Green had La Salle's only field goal in the final 9:43 with his three-pointer at the 3:15 mark.

La Salle failed to outrebound a team for just the third time this season (South Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma State).

Freshman Aaric Murray had 10 points and 11 rebounds, while senior Yves Mekongo had 11 points off the bench for LU.

La Salle has eight days off before hosting Cornell on Tuesday, December 29 at 4 PM.