Feb. 2, 2010

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PHILADELPHIA - La Salle battled back from a 16-point second half deficit to draw within three points on four different occasions but fell short in a 90-83 loss to Rhode Island on Tuesday at Tom Gola Arena. Four Explorers scored double-figures led by senior Rodney Green, who had 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

"We played really hard and gave ourselves a chance against a very good team," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "I can't fault our effort but we just made too many mistakes in the first half."

Freshman Aaric Murray scored 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, while classmate Parrish Grant quadrupled his career high with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. He made all four three-pointers. Junior Jerrell Williams added 13.

The Explorers turned the ball over 14 times in the first half and trailed 53-41 at the break. The lead stretched to as many as 16 points after five minutes of play in the second half, but the hosts slowly chipped away.

A 20-7 run over the next eight minutes made it 73-70 Rhode Island with seven minutes to play. La Salle cut it to three more times, including twice under two minutes but came up short.

The Rams placed six players in double-figures, led by Will Martell's 16 points and eight boards. Lamonte Ullmer added 14.

La Salle (11-11, 3-5 A-10) won the rebounding battle, 40-31, and out-shot the Rams (18-3, 6-2 A-10). But the first half deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

Grant played his best game in the Blue and Gold, adding four assists to his 16 points in 38 minutes of action. Senior Yves Mekongo had eight points and now needs five to join Green and Kimmani Barrett in the 1,000-point club.

The Explorers remain at home on Saturday and will host Saint Louis at 4 PM. The game will be broadcast locally on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.