Dec. 9, 2010

Box Score

BOSTON, MA - Senior Ruben Guillandeaux led all scorers with 21 points and La Salle shot 65% in the second half to earn a hard-fought win over Boston University at Agganis Arena on Thursday night. The Explorers, which trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, placed four players in double-figures.

"If someone would have told me that Aaric would have only played 15 minutes and they would have hit 13 three's, I would have said we didn't have a chance," Dr. John Giannini said. "But this team has found a way to compete and win close games." Murray picked up his third and fourth fouls early in the second half and fouled out with five minutes to play. He was effective when he was on the court and scored 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting.

Junior Earl Pettis had a career-high 19 points, including 9-for-10 from the foul line, and senior Jerrell Williams added 13 points. Senior Steve Weingarten had eight points and ten rebounds and freshman Tyreek Duren had nine points. A 7-0 run that began with Weingarten's jumper with 3:23 to play and finished with Duren's old-fashioned three-point play with 1:56 left gave the Explorers (6-3) a 76-70 lead.

But some clutch shooting by BU and some costly turnovers and missed foul shots allowed the hosts to draw within one point on three separate occasions in the final 45 seconds, including as late as 10 seconds left. But Pettis connected on a pair of free throws to give La Salle a 84-81 lead and John Holland's three-pointer was off the mark as time expired.

Darryl Partin, who played his first two seasons of college basketball at La Salle, led the Terriers with 20 points. Dom Morris, one of seven BU players with Philadelphia ties (Friends Central) had 15 points and Holland added 15 as well.

Boston University (4-6) led by as many as 12 points in the first half at 30-18 with 6:49 to play before halftime. But a 12-1 La Salle run over the final three minutes, capped by Guillandeaux's three-pointer at the buzzer cut the deficit to 38-35 at intermission.

For Guillandeaux, it was the 13th straight game that he has hit a three-pointer dating back to the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

La Salle returns to Tom Gola Arena, where it has won 13 of its last 14 non-conference games, to host #12 Villanova on Sunday at 2 PM. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free Gold Rush shirt.