Dec. 12, 2010

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PHILADELPHIA - La Salle took #12 Villanova down to the final second, but freshman Sam Mills' potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer was just off the mark and the Explorers fell in a 84-81 heartbreaker at a sold-out Tom Gola Arena in La Salle's first Big 5 contest of the season.

"I'm extremely frustrated, as any La Salle person is," head coach Dr. John Gianniani said.  "We left so many plays out on the court, defensively and offensively."

Jerrell Williams added a game-high 20 points for the Explorers, Mills had 14, Tyreek Duren contributed 13 and Ruben Guillandeaux chipped in 10 to round out the quintet of Explorers in double figures.

Villanova placed five players in double figures, with Maalik Wayns leading the way with 19 points.

La Salle held an eight point lead at 74-66 with 5:23 remaining in the contest after a pair of free throws by Duren.

The Wildcats then went on a 12-4 run, punctuated by a trey from Corey Stokes and a pair of back-to-back strikes from beyond the arc by Dominic Cheek to take a 78-76 lead with 3:10 to go in the game.  Villanova would shoot .714 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Mills answered for the Explorers, hitting a trey of his own to give the lead back to La Salle at 79-78 with 1:46 to play.

Wayns made a fastbreak layup, drew a foul and made the free throw to put Villanova ahead 81-79.

On La Salle's next possession, Murray missed a jumper. Fisher was fouled on the other end of the court to give Villanova (8-1) the 83-79 edge with 14 seconds remaining.

Duren hit a pair of free throws with 11.2 seconds on the clock and then fouled to send Fisher to the line.  Fisher's second free throw rimmed out and Earl Pettis snared the rebound for La Salle.

Duren's three wouldn't go, but the Explorers grabbed the rebound and called timeout.  Needing a three to tie the game, Mills' had a good look from distance, but it wouldn't go, giving the Wildcats their third Big 5 victory on the season.

La Salle opened the game on a 7-0 run, capitalizing on several Wildcat turnovers and holding them to 1-for-15 shooting from the floor in the opening minutes of the contest.  La Salle led by as many as 14 in the first half.

Villanova tied the game at 28-all on a trey by Dominic Cheek with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.  On the Wildcats next possession, Cheek knocked down another three to give the Villanova its first lead of the game at the 4:49 mark of the first half.

After a Steve Weingarten foul from beyond the arc, Wayns hit 2-of-3 free throws to give the Wildcats a 38-37 halftime lead.

La Salle shot .470 from the floor, compared to the Wildcats' .453.

The Explorers' 81 points were the most allowed by Villanova this season.  The Explorers fall to 0-1 in Big 5 play on the year.

La Salle (6-4) will be back in action on Friday evening when the Bucknell Bison visit Tom Gola Arena for a 7:00 p.m. contest.