Jan. 27, 2010
Box Score
BRONX, NY - Aaric Murary posted a career-high 24 points and set the program's record for blocks by a freshman as La Salle defeated Fordham, 80-73, on Wednesday night at Rose Hill Gymnasium. Junior Jerrell Williams had 19 points and senior Rodney Green added 16, which included 14 after intermission.
The match-up of the league's two top freshmen, Murray and Fordham's Chris Gaston, was everything it was billed to be. Each player led his team in points and rebounding, but it was Murray's supporting cast that gave the Explorers the win. Gaston finished with 21 points and 15 boards.
Murray added four blocks to his 9-for-18 performance from the field, giving him 54 rejections for the season. It is the most by a La Salle freshman, breaking the previous record of 52 set by Travar Johnson in 1996-97.
Williams played within himself, shooting 7-for-10 from the floor, in a homecoming of sorts. The Paterson, NJ native had plenty of friends and family at the contest in the closest game to his hometown on the schedule.
Green overcame a sub-par first half to score 14 in the second stanza, making six of seven shots from the floor. He also tied Murray for rebounding honors with seven.
"At halftime, Coach got on me a little bit," Green said. "I missed a lot of layups in the first half."
Fordham (2-17, 0-7 A-10) led for the first 20 minutes of play before La Salle went on a 6-0 run to open the second half. The visitors carried over the momentum and led by as many as 11 points with five minutes to play.
The Rams made it interesting though, cutting the deficit to three points with 1:35 remaining. But freshman Parrish Grant, who played 37 minutes without committing a turnover, hit a pair of free throws with 35 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Senior Yves Mekongo, who inched closer to 1,000 career points with 11 tonight, added two more free throws add to the cushion. Mekongo had 974 points as an Explorer.
The Rams held a 34-33 advantage on the boards.
"I was a little disappointed that they out-rebounded us," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "Gaston was a big part of that. He had 15 when no other guy had more than four."
La Salle (11-9, 3-3 A-10) visits city rival #15 Temple on Saturday at noon. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
