March 11, 2011

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ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - La Salle drew within four early in the second half in hopes of notching an upset over #24/25 Temple on Friday evening in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals but the Owls went on a 15-3 run to advance to the semifinals with a 96-76 victory. Sophomore Aaric Murray had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Explorers, while senior Ruben Guillandeaux finished his career with a 17-point effort.

Freshman Tyreek Duren added 14 points while senior Jerrell Williams had 11 points in his final contest in the Blue and Gold.

"I didn't think this was possible, but I actually came out of this game even more impressed with Temple than I was before," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "Our defense wasn't always good, but even when it was good, they made great plays and tough shots and they played good team ball at the end of the shot clock. They made good individual plays. I just tip my hat to them."

Temple (25-6), the three-time defending Atlantic 10 champions, has won 10 straight games at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. TU was led by Ramone Moore, who had a game-high 23 points. Khalif Wyatt scored 20 points off the bench while Juan Fernandez (19 points), Lavoy Allen (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Aaron Brown (14 points) also reached double-figures.

The Explorers continued to show they could score against the league's best defense, putting up 76 points and shooting 53.4% from the floor. But 22 turnovers and allowing 10 three-pointers made the upset too tall a task.

"I really thought that we could come out today after such a great win against St. Bonaventure and put forth a better effort as a team," Guillandeaux said. "I'm just really disappointed that it didn't turn out that way."

La Salle trailed 42-32 at the half and fell behind by 14 points when Temple scored the first four points of the half. But a furious 10-0 run by Murray and Williams in under two minutes cut the deficit to 46-42 with 16:49 to play. Williams had six points, including a three-pointer, and Murray had four to give the Explorers some life.

But like six days ago at the Liacouras Center, the Owls answered. A dunk by Allen kick-started the run and three consecutive three's by Moore and Wyatt put the game nearly out of reach. La Salle got it to 11 on two separate occasions but Temple extended the lead and will advance to Saturday's semifinals against Richmond or Rhode Island.

La Salle ends its season with a 15-18 record. In addition to Williams and Guillandeaux, the Explorers will graduate Steve Weingarten and Greg Danish.

Williams finishes his career tied for 33rd on the all-time scoring list with Jim Crawford (1970-73) with 1,213 points. He is also 13th on the rebounding list.

Guillandeaux is 37th on the scoring list with 1,168 points and 11th in three-point field goals (166).

Murray had three blocks to move into sole possession of second place on the single-season rejection list. He had 73 as a sophomore, three better than his 70 last year. Lionel Simmons owns the record with 77 blocks in 1987-88.