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PHILADELPHIA – La Salle men's basketball edged Dayton 72-70 in a nailbiter on Wednesday evening at Tom Gola Arena. Ramon Galloway led all scorers with 18 points (6-10 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-4 FT) and added five assists and four steals to his line.

In a game that sported eight ties and 21 lead changes, the Explorers found themselves up 71-67 after a pair of Galloway free throws tickled the net, but a three point make from Dayton's Kevin Dillard chopped La Salle's lead to one. Tyrone Garland was fouled on the inbounds pass and knocked down the front end of his pair. Dillard scurried the ball up the floor and threw up a contested three pointer which drew the back iron, much to the delight of the energized Explorer Entourage.

La Salle improved to 12-4 (2-1 A-10) with the victory while Dayton dropped to 10-7 (0-3 A-10).

The Explorers began the game a little sluggish, turning the ball over six times in the game's seven opening minutes and found themselves in an 11-5 hole. However, Galloway electrified the Blue and Gold faithful with an alley-oop from Garland at the 12:40 mark, an occurrence that become commonplace for the hosts over the game's next few minutes.

Galloway and Jerrell Wright sent Gola Arena into a frenzy, with dunks on five consecutive field goal conversions for the Explorers. At the end of the show, La Salle led 20-17, closing a 13-4 run. They entered the half up 35-33.

“I think that all comes from our defense,” Duren said, when asked about the assault on the rim from Galloway and Wright. “That could be every game.

“I think we came out a little lackadaisical in the beginning but we turned it up and got focused. That's when the dunks started happening.”

The second half consisted of very few substantial runs but was marked by only five Explorer turnovers, after coughing up 10 in the first half. Dayton ended the game with 24 spills, their second highest total on the season.

“I just think that we're small, quick, and we really pressure,” Giannini said when asked about forcing 24 turnovers. “That's a big part of our effectiveness.”

Wright posted 16 points and a team-high five rebounds while Duren added 14 and six steals. Duren scored his 1,000^th career point on a layup at the 6:22 mark in the first half. He is the 51^st Explorer to accomplish the feat. Garland joined the double figure mix with 11 points and added two assists.

“I knew it [1,000^th point] was just going to come in the flow of the game,” Duren said. “I wasn't really nervous; I just wanted to focus on winning the game.”

Wright converted old-fashioned three point plays on back to back possessions late in the second half, giving the Explorers the lead in the nip and tick ending minutes.

“We think he's terrific,” Giannini said, when asked about Wright's maturation. “If you go back and look at my quotes from when we signed Jerrell, I said I thought he would be one of the most productive players I've ever coached, but he can get better.”

La Salle shot 49 percent (27-55) on the night, including a 3-12 (25 percent) clip from three and an 88 percent (15-17) mark from the free throw line.

Dayton scored at a 49 percent (25-51) clip as well while knocking down 7-15 (47 percent) of its threes and 77 percent (13-17) of its free throws.

Vee Sanford and Dyshawn Pierre led the Flyers with 13 points and Dillard added 12, all coming in the second half. Dayton outrebounded the Explorers 35-21.

“Everyone in the A-10 is tough,” Giannini said. “We're thrilled with any A-10 win and that was a very good team we beat today.”

La Salle will continue its conference schedule on Saturday (2 PM) at Xavier.