March 6, 2009
La Salle Explorers @ Saint Louis Billikens
Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 8:00 PM
Location: Chaifetz Arena
Game: Conference
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La Salle Explorers (17-12, 8-7) Big 5: 3-1
Conference: Atlantic 10
Saturday’s matchup with the Saint Louis Billikens will mark the final game of the regular season for the La Salle Explorers. The Explorers will look to win their fourth consecutive game, on the brand new floor of Chaifetz Arena, before heading to Atlantic City for the A-10 Championship next week. Prior to Wednesday night’s tip-off against visiting Fordham, seniors Paul Johnson and Brad Cohen were honored for their four years of service to the men’s basketball program. Both players cracked the starting lineup with Cohen scoring five of the first nine points for the Explorers. He went on to end the game with eight points, on 3-of-7 shooting, in eight minutes. Johnson pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, one short of tying the game-high, and scored seven points. Junior Kimmani Barrett led the way for La Salle with 19 points, on 8-of-14 shooting with three treys, and also attained five rebounds. Junior Rodney Green, who was named to the NABC All-District Team earlier this week, contributed 16 points, six boards, four assists and three steals in 33 minutes. The Explorers outrebounded the Rams, 43-35, and also outscored them in the paint, 34-22. The Explorers, who also had the advantage in bench points, 31-15, were led by junior Vernon Goodridge and sophomore Darryl Partin off the bench as each player combined for 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Explorers ended the night shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and 36.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Saint Louis Billikens (17-12, 8-7)
Conference: Atlantic 10
The Saint Louis Billikens will look to snap a two-game losing skid on Saturday as they host the Explorers in Atlantic 10 action. After winning six of seven games which included victories over Duquesne, Saint Joseph’s and Dayton, the Billikens dropped two straight on the road to St. Bonaventure and Duquesne. In their most recent matchup, a road contest with Duquesne on Wednesday, a Barry Eberhardt free throw put the Billikens up 65-64 with 1:23 remaining, but a 6-0 Duquesne run, which was capped off by an Aaron Jackson free throw with five seconds left, gave the Dukes the win, 70-68. Senior Kevin Lisch tied the game-high with 23 points, on 7-of-16 shooting with six three-pointers, in 39 minutes. Like Green, Lisch was also named to the NABC All-District Team earlier this week. In the loss to Duquesne, senior Tommie Liddell III was just shy of a double-double, ending with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds, and freshman Kwamain Mitchell followed up Lisch’s scoring performance with 17 points, on 7-of-10 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. Despite the loss, Saint Louis still managed to shoot 57.8 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from three-point range.
Eye on an Explorer: Vernon Goodridge
Junior Vernon Goodridge has been a solid contributor for the Explorers as of late. In last Sunday’s win over UMass, he pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and scored 10 points, on 4-of-5 shooting. On Wednesday, Goodridge came off the bench to collect nine points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 20 minutes. With junior Yves Mekongo Mbala out of the lineup, Goodridge is averaging a team-high 5.8 rebounds in addition to 6.7 points.
Key Matchup: Rodney Green vs. Kevin Lisch
Two of the conference’s top scorers will go head-to-head on Saturday when La Salle junior Rodney Green meets up with Saint Louis senior Kevin Lisch in the backcourt. In five of the last six games, Green has either led or tied the team in scoring, including a career-high 30 points, on 10-of-19 shooting, against UMass. Green is ranked first on the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game and also paces all Explorers with 102 assists. Green, who currently sits at 26th on the school’s all-time scoring list, has a chance to move into the top 10 by the end of his career. Lisch also leads his team in scoring with an average of 14.4 per game. Lisch, who is sixth on Saint Louis’ all-time scoring list with 1,653 points, is ranked second in the conference in free throw shooting percentage (.829). In 2008-09 he was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Third Team. In last year’s 81-74 home loss to Saint Louis, Green scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists in 32 minutes. Lisch went on to score a game-high 22 points and also distributed a game-high six assists in the win.
