Feb. 17, 2009
La Salle Explorers vs. Richmond Spiders
Date: Wednesday, February 18
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Tom Gola Arena
Game: Conference
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La Salle Explorers: 14-10 (5-5, 8th Place) R.P.I.: 98
Conference: Atlantic 10
On Wednesday evening, the La Salle Explorers will play the second of six straight games in Philadelphia when they return to Tom Gola Arena for the first time in two weeks. After coming off a 75-68 victory over the Saint Joseph’s Hawks on Saturday afternoon at the Palestra, the Explorers will be looking for their third consecutive win when they host the Richmond Spiders. After leading his team to a 2-0 week, with wins over George Washington and Saint Joseph’s, junior Rodney Green was named Big 5 Player of the Week. Green averaged 17.0 points and 3.0 assists in the two wins and his 20 points against the Hawks marked his 10th 20-point performance of the season. With junior Yves Mekongo Mbala sidelined for his fourth straight game due to a broken hand, the Explorers will depend on their bench to fill the void as they did so well back on Saturday against the Hawks. Junior Kimmani Barrett has led the charge for the Explorers in Mekongo Mbala’s absence and will be relied on once again to continue his pursuit of making sure the Explorers do not miss a beat. Last season, the Explorers split a home-and-home series with the Spiders which included a 75-74 triple overtime loss at Tom Gola Arena. Ten days later, Darnell Harris led the Explorers in the rematch with a game-high 24 points in a 76-67 victory to clinch their third straight win. Now that the Explorers are fresh off their biggest win of the season, they will have the luxury of wrapping up the 2008-09 campaign by playing four of their final six games at Tom Gola Arena. With the Atlantic 10 Championships right around the corner, the Explorers will need to take advantage of every opportunity from here on out in order to finish the season out strong.
Richmond Spiders: 12-13 (4-6, T-9th Place) R.P.I.: 151
Conference: Atlantic 10
When the Richmond Spiders head to La Salle for the second year in a row, they will be looking to pick up back-to-back road victories over the Explorers. Wednesday night’s game for Richmond culminates a two-game road trip. On Saturday, the Spiders dropped a close one to the Dayton Flyers on the road, 69-63. In the loss, sophomore Kevin Anderson (14.9 ppg) showed why he was last season’s Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, as he scored 24 points to match a career-high. After trailing at the half and then falling behind by as many 13 points, the Spiders rallied back and eventually cut the deficit to four with a little over five minutes to play. Junior David Gonzalvez (16.8 ppg) was also productive for the Spiders as he contributed 16 points and a team-high tying five rebounds. The loss to Dayton followed the Spiders victory against Duquesne, which snapped a season-high four-game losing streak. Alongside Anderson and Gonzalvez, the Spiders have received significant contributions from sophomore Justin Harper who has posted averages of 10.1 points per game and a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game in addition to 25 blocks. With the exceptional offensive production from these three, the Spiders have also been very good at maintaining possession of the ball. Currently, Richmond holds the second-best turnover margin (+2.48) in the conference. The Spiders are also successful from beyond the arc, ranking fourth in the A-10 in three-point field goals made (6.96/game). If the Spiders can pull out their 11th win all-time against the Explorers, they will move to .500 on the season. With only two weeks remaining in the 2008-09 campaign, Richmond needs to win a majority of their games in hopes of moving up in the conference standings.
Eye on an Explorer: Dr. John Giannini
Over the past three games, Head Coach Dr. John Giannini has gotten the opportunity to play certain players at different points in games due to Mekongo Mbala’s injury. Giannini has shown that he has a tremendous amount of confidence in his bench. Over the previous three games, he has done a remarkable job in regards to making the appropriate adjustments to setup the best possible offensive and defensive schemes. With senior Paul Johnson moving into the starting lineup and with sophomores Jerrell and Terrell Williams improving game-by-game, these three have become a vital factor in the team’s recent two-game winning streak.
Key Matchup: Kimmani Barrett vs. David Gonzalvez
After coming off a game where he finished just two points shy of a career-high, La Salle junior Kimmani Barrett is heating up at the right time for the Explorers. Over the last three games, Barrett has averaged 14.7 points per game. This season, Barrett is second on the team in both scoring (11.8 ppg) and three-point percentage (.356). For the Spiders, Richmond junior David Gonzalvez leads the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and three-point percentage (.410). Gonzalvez, who has led Richmond in scoring in 12 of 25 games this season, is currently sixth in the conference in scoring, trailing La Salle junior Rodney Green (17.0 ppg) who sits in fifth place.
