PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team will look to bounce back after Saturday's loss at Bucknell on Thursday evening against Iona at Tom Gola Arena.

Iona Gaels (5-4) vs. La Salle Explorers (6-2)
Thursday, December 20, 2012 | 7 PM | Tom Gola Arena
Live Tweets @ExplorerGameDay | Sign up for Text Alerts
Live Video | Live Audio (FREE) | Radio: WNTP 990 AM 

Live Statistics
Regular | Media

Game Notes
La Salle | Iona

Last Time Out
La Salle fell 74-66 at Bucknell on Saturday despite a 21-point showing from Ramon Galloway. The senior posted 14 of those points in the second half, as the Explorers outscored the Bison 37-33 in the frame. Tyreek Duren added 14 points while Jerrell Wright chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds, three blocks, and two steals.

The Blue and Gold shot 39 percent (24-62) from the field in the game, their second-lowest figure this season, but converted 14 of 16 (88 percent) from the free throw line.

All-Time Series
La Salle possesses a 15-6 all-time edge against Iona, dating back to 1954, with most of those meetings coming as rivals in the MAAC. The schools have not met since February 7, 1992, an 88-79 Explorer victory.

Coach's Corner 
Head Coach Dr. John Giannini on...

What Iona brings to the table:
They are a team that presses, runs, and is extremely aggressive. They have great guard play, especially with Momo Jones and Sean Armand but their other guards are awfully good too. They spread the floor, attack the basket, and kick out for threes. They pose a lot of challenges and defensively they'll press and then they'll fall back into a bunch of different types of half court defenses. They play about every defense known to man and try to keep you off-balance. We're going to have to keep the game simple, not worry about what defense they're in and maintain our own aggressiveness. The two teams have pretty similar styles of play with them being a bit more extreme in pressing and running.

The challenge of facing a team with big time guards:
Our guards last year went up against the best guards in the country so we're used to it. Jones and Armand might be under the national radar but I think they have that kind of ability. But we're confident in our guys. We've played against good guards and we've had success against good guards. It's always a challenge and these guys are going to come at us hard.

His team's taking care of the basketball:
I think it's having guys who are skilled who want to take care of the ball. We want to get the first good shot. We don't want to make 20 passes if we can get the same shot with two or three passes and sometimes that cuts down on your turnovers too. I think we have a nice combination of aggressiveness, skill, and mindset right now.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle has played clean basketball offensively this season, ranking 12^th nationally in turnovers/game (10.6). They also rank in the top-50 in free throw percentage at 73.9 percent.

Galloway has been a force on both ends for the Blue and Gold, averaging 3.0 three point field goals/game (25^th nationally) and 2.38 steals/game (40^th nationally). The senior's 17.1 ppg are good for third in the Atlantic 10, a ranking he shares with teammate Tyreek Duren.

Scouting the Gaels
Iona toppled the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens on Saturday, posting an 81-78 OT win behind 25 points from senior guard Lamont Jones. He was named MAAC player of the week on Monday for the performance. On Tuesday, the Gaels knocked off Liberty 87-69 at home. Jones entered the week as the nation's sixth leading scorer at 22.3 ppg and also leads the Gaels in assists.

As a team, Iona boasts the conference's top scoring offense (79.8 ppg), which is good for 26^th in the country. Especially dangerous from long range, the Gaels average 9.8 three point field goals/game (15^th nationally) behind 3.78/game (11^th nationally) from junior guard Sean Armand. In addition, Iona converts it at 79 percent from the free throw line, the third best clip in the nation.

Up Next
La Salle will play its second game in three days when Sacred Heart comes to town for a 2 PM matchup on Saturday.