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PHILADELPHIA – In only his second game of the season and his home debut, La Salle junior Tyrone Garland poured in  a career-high 26 points off the bench to lead all scorers in an 88-74 La Salle victory over Iona on Thursday evening at Tom Gola Arena.

Nineteen of Garland's 26 came in the second half, including a seven-minute stretch where the guard scored 14 straight for the Explorers. Leading 61-56 at the 13:00 mark in the second half, Garland's run helped open up a 79-68 lead for the Blue and Gold which it would never relinquish.

“It was good being back home in front of the friends and family,” Garland said. “I want to thank my teammates for being there for me today. Obviously, I started off making a house [of bricks] but they told me to keep on shooting and the nerves calmed down in the second half.”

“I used to do it in high school,” Garland said, when asked about his 14 straight points. “It kind of felt like high school when I was out there; it just felt good.”

“Tyrone's strength is that he's probably the fastest of the [our guards] and he might move without the ball the best of everybody,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “He did not let up on defense and he maintained his intensity tonight.”

“He got more comfortable in the second half but what we really benefit from in the second half was his ability to move without the ball. He got a lot of layups and that's basketball IQ.”

While Garland stole the show in the deciding second period, Ramon Galloway singlehandedly kept La Salle in the game during the first half, dropping 21 points (8-9 FG, 3-3 3PT, 2-3 FT) and added three assists. The do-it-all guard did not register a point in the second half, but ended the night with a career-high 10 assists, notching his first double-double of the season. He added six rebounds and two steals to his stat line to polish off a terrific evening.

“Coach G told us in practice that it was going to be a game of runs,” Galloway said. “Our guards just tried to keep the game up tempo and really push the pace.”

“The second half I didn't want to force anything,” Galloway said. “I felt the shots in the first half were all in the flow. In the second half, I was looking for my teammates and they were wide open. They were doing a great job of cutting and getting open.”

Giannini remarked that Galloway's second half performance was the best he'd seen the senior play in his career.

A back and forth first half produced a 49-45 halftime lead for the Explorers, although the Gaels led by as many as seven (30-23) at the 9:55 mark. The Gaels' strong offensive output was marked by 14 points from Lamont Jones who came in as the nation's sixth leading scorer (22.3 ppg). He added only five more in the second.

Sophomore big man David Laury finished the game as Iona's leading scorer (21 points; 8-13 FG, 5-6 FT), including 12 in the second half. He added 14 rebounds which were a game-high.

For the game, the Explorers shot 51 percent (36-71) from the field, including a 6-17 mark (35 percent) from behind the arc and a season-low 56 percent (10-18) from the charity stripe.

Conversely, the Gaels shot it at 44 percent (31-71) but were held to a miniscule 22 percent (5-23) from three and converted 7-8 (88 percent) from the free throw line. Iona entered the contest at 45 percent from long range on the season.

The Explorers outrebounded the Gaels 43-39 on the night and forced 16 turnovers while coughing up 13 of their own.

Sophomore Jerrell Wright posted 13 points and eight rebounds while front court partner Steve Zack notched a team-high 10 boards. Junior Tyreek Duren also had 13 points. 

With the victory, La Salle improved to 7-2 on the season while Iona dipped to 5-5.

The Explorers resume their schedule on Saturday at 2 PM when they host Sacred Heart at Tom Gola Arena.