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PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team was within one of Saint Joseph's with 11.4 remaining in the game, but they couldn't overcome the Hawks, falling 70-66 in an Atlantic 10 and Big 5 contest played in front of a capacity crowd at the Palestra on Saturday afternoon.

“We have good kids and one of the reasons is because of how far we fought to get back in the game,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said.  “They showed really good character today…. We didn't quit. I'm proud of our guys for that.”

La Salle now sits at 17-7 and 6-3 in A-10 play on the season, while Saint Joseph's improves to 15-9 and 5-4.

Senior Earl Pettis added 17 points and came up with some big shots down the stretch for the Explorers. Junior Ramon Galloway added 14 points and seven rebounds.

With 25 seconds remaining in the game sophomore Tyreek Duren added a layup to cut La Salle's deficit to three at 67-64.  With the Explorers pressing, freshman D.J. Peterson managed to come up with the ball after the Hawks inbounds' pass.

Pettis had a look from beyond the arc, but dribbled and took it to the hoop to get the Explorers within one at 67-66 with just over 11 seconds on the clock.

The Explorers fouled to send the Hawks' C.J. Aiken to the line, where he iced two shots to give Saint Joseph's a three point cushion with nine seconds to go.

Pettis got off a trey for the Explorers with 2 seconds remaining, but it wouldn't fall and the Hawks added another pair of free throws to seal the contest.

After a poor defensive first half where La Salle allowed the Hawks to shoot nearly 57%, the Explorers trailed 42-33 at the break.

However, the Blue and Gold opened the second half on a 5-1 run to cut their deficit to 38-43.  But a Saint Joseph's 6-0 run to extend its lead back to double digits.

Foul trouble hurt the Explorers, with Galloway, White and Wright all picking up their third fouls early in the second half and spending time on the bench.

After Galloway and Mills hit back-to-back treys, the Explorers trailed by just four at 52-48 with 13:04 to play.

Pettis sunk two big treys to cut the deficit to one at 61-60 with 4:41 to go.

But La Salle wouldn't score for nearly three minutes as the Hawks brought their lead back to seven at 67-60 with 1:35 left in the play.

Free throws by Galloway with 1:12 on the clock started the late-game surge for the Explorers.

For the Hawks, Halil Kanacevic added a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds.

This is Saint Joseph's first win in its last four tries against La Salle at the Palestra.

The Explorers will next hit the road for a 7:00 p.m. contest against Richmond on Wednesday.