Jan. 20, 2010

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PHILADELPHIA - Freshman Aaric Murray continued to impress and led four other Explorers with double-figures as La Salle picked up a Big 5 win over Penn, 76-57, on Wednesday at the Palestra. Murray tied a career-high with 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds in his first collegiate appearance in the historic building on 33rd Street. The Explorers are now 6-3 in their last nine City Series games.

"Penn made it awfully tough on us," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "The final score is not indicative on how close the game was."

Senior Rodney Green added 15 points and six assists while classmate Yves Mekongo had 14 and junior Jerrell Williams added 13. La Salle won for the third straight time in the Penn series for the first time since 1988-89 to 1990-91.

Murray, who has averaged 19.8 ppg., 8.5 rpg., and 3.3 bpg. over his last four contests used his height and athleticism against the undermanned Quakers. He had 12 of his 21 points after the break and had the best shooting night of his young career, going 8-for-11 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc.

La Salle was able to win without the services of senior Kimmani Barrett, who missed his third straight game with a sprained right foot. He joined classmate Ruben Guillandeaux in street clothes, giving the Explorers over 1,800 points on the bench.

But players like junior Steve Weingarten (nine points, eight rebounds), Williams and Mekongo all stepped up in his absence. Williams added seven boards and was 5-for-6 from the field, while Mekongo was about the only defender able to contain Penn's Zach Rosen, who scored 29 points to lead the hosts.

"Zach was tremendous," Giannini said.

Rosen helped the Quakers (1-12, 0-3 Big 5) cut the La Salle lead to just five with nine minutes to play after either scoring or setting up the previous 11 Penn points. His feed to Darren Smith cut the lead to 53-48 with 8:59 to play, but it was as close as the Ivy League foe would come.

Murray connected on a jumper to spark a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to return the comfortable lead to the Explorers bench. Penn cut it to single digits once more but would get no closer.

La Salle connected on 18-for-20 foul shots, including 14-for-15 in the second half.

"That game is much closer if we don't make our free throws," Giannini said.

Once again, the Explorers controlled the boards, out-rebounding Penn by 15, 36-21.

Murray's three blocks give him 48 for the season. He is now four short of tying Travar Johnson for the program record for blocks by a freshman, which was set in 1996-97.

The Explorers (10-8, 1-1 Big 5) improved to 7-1 when scoring 70 or more points and 9-0 when outshooting opponents.

With the non-conference slate completed, the Blue and Gold return to Atlantic 10 play for the remainder of the season. Next up is a visit by Charlotte to Tom Gola Arena on Saturday at 2 PM.

At halftime, the 2010 class of the La Salle Hall of Athletes will be honored. The class includes former basketball coach Speedy Morris, Jennifer Zenszer Ngo '01, Kerry McGahey '93, Sheila Klick '04, and Todd Witzleben '03.

In addition, the 20th anniversary of the 1989-90 men's basketball team that went 30-2 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament will be honored. National Player of the Year Lionel Simmons is expected to be in attendance.

Tickets are still available by calling 215-951-1999 or by emailing tickets@lasalle.edu.