#22/22 Temple Owls at La Salle Explorers
Date: Wednesday, February 22
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Tom Gola Arena
Radio: WNTP 990 AM

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For tickets, call 215-951-1999 or email tickets@lasalle.edu.

PHILADELPHIA– La Salle will look to upset nationally ranked and Atlantic 10 leader Temple on Wednesday when the Owls visit Tom Gola Arena for a 7 PM tip-off. The match-up will count in the Big 5 standings as well.

Scouting the Explorers (18-9, 7-5 A-10, 1-2 Big 5)

The Explorers return home to Gola Arena having won 14 of their last 15 games in the building. With four A-10 contests remaining, La Salle is tied for fifth place and a half-game out of fourth. The top four teams receive a bye to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in Atlantic City, N.J.

Senior Earl Pettis led head coach Dr. John Giannini's squad with 18 points on Saturday in a narrow 72-71 victory at UMass before a nationally-televised audience on CBS Sports Network. Sophomore Tyreek Duren had 15 points, all in the second half, and his fadeaway with 50 seconds left gave the Explorers the lead for good.

Pettis and junior Ramon Galloway are tied for the team lead in scoring at 14.7 ppg. and rank 12^th in the league. Pettis is approaching the 1,000 point milestone for his career and needs 67 to reach that mark. A candidate for A-10 Most Improved honors, the Philadelphia native has improved his scoring by 5.5 ppg. from last season.

Galloway continues to rank among the top three-point shooters in the nation, now ranking 13^th nationally at .468. He is second in the A-10 in both three-point percentage and three-pointers per game (2.5). Another Philadelphia native, Galloway has dished 5.6 assists per game in his last seven contests.

Duren adds 13.7 ppg. and a team-best 114 assists while sophomore Sam Mills adds 11.3 ppg. Duren has made 30 of his last 32 free throws and scored five of the last six points in crunch time against the Minutemen.

Freshman Jerrell Wright has come into his own of late and scored 15 points and had eight boards at UMass. When he avoids foul trouble and plays at least 20 minutes, the Explorers are 11-3 including wins in 10 of their last 11 games.

Two important numbers to hit for La Salle appear to be 70 points and eight three-pointers. La Salle is 17-3 when scoring 70 points and 15-4 when making eight three-pointers.

Scouting the Owls (21-5, 10-2 A-10, 2-0 Big 5)

Temple is ranked #22 in both polls for the first time this season and has won 10 straight games. Ramone Moore leads the A-10 in scoring at 18.2 ppg., while Khalif Wyatt is third at 17.0 ppg.
 
Juan Fernandez adds 11.5 ppg. and a team-best 101 assists. Micheal Eric, who missed the first meeting between the schools, pulls down a team-high 7.8 rpg. The Owls are 9-0 since Eric returned from injury.
 
TU head coach Fran Dunphy is a 1970 La Salle graduate and served two stints as an assistant with the Explorers
 
Next up:
 
La Salle will visit Fordham on Saturday at 1 PM. The game will be televised in New York on the YES Network.