Nov. 23, 2010

Box Score

CANCUN, MEXICO - La Salle jumped out to an 18-point halftime lead and played well down the stretch to hold off Providence, 84-73, on Tuesday at the Cancun Challenge. Sophomore Aaric Murray, who scored 14 straight points late in the second half to keep the Friars at bay, led the Explorers with 20 points and 11 rebounds. He was one of five La Salle players in double-figures.

Junior Earl Pettis played his best game as an Explorer after transferring from Rutgers, tying a career-high with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting. He added six boards and four assists in an all-around effort.

Senior Jerrell Williams notched his 13th career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds and classmate Ruben Guillandeaux added 13 as well. Sophomore Devon White came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. He added seven boards.

"Anytime your team gives a great effort, you have to be happy," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "Our effort was tremendous. All eight guys who played contributed a great deal. It was a great team win. We keep getting better and I think we can keep getting better."

La Salle, winners of three straight, will look to capture its first regular season tournament championship since winning the 2004 Dr. Pepper Classic in Chattanooga tomorrow night when it faces #11/12 Missouri at 9:30 PM (Eastern) on CBS College Sports.

Providence came in with a perfect 4-0 record with plans on making it an all-BCS conference final on Wednesday night. But the Explorers had other plans and made them known early on, racing to a nine-point lead a little more than three minutes into the game.

La Salle (4-1) used a flurry of layups and dunks to go on a 15-2 run from to make a five-point lead a 42-24 advantage with 1:23 to play before intermission. White had six points and Pettis added five during the spurt. The duo combined for 24 points in the half, with Pettis going for 14 and White added a career-high ten.

The Friars (4-1) cut the lead to eight with 10:32 remaining, but Murray kept the Explorers in the lead nearly single-handedly. He scored 14 straight points, including 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, the kept the lead at nine points, 71-62 with 2:33 to play. The lead would remain double-digits the rest of the contest.

The Explorers dominated the boards with a 59-31 advantage and shot an even 50% from the field (32-for-64).

Marshon Brooks led the way for PC with 20 points, while Vincent Council had 17.

Missouri (3-0) defeated Wyoming, 72-62, in the other semifinal. The Tigers reached the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament and return four of their top five leading scorers from a season ago.

"It is a great opportunity (to play Missouri) and play a ranked team, one of the best teams in the country," Murray said. "It's a great opportunity to fix some things we didn't do well against Baylor and get a big win."