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ST. THOMAS, USVI – La Salle ended its trip to the US Virgin Islands on a sour note with a 65-50 loss to Northern Iowa in the third-place game on Monday night. Junior Steve Zack was a bright spot, recording his second straight double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Tyrone Garland was the only other Explorer to reach double-figures with 10 points.

"It's certainly hard to recognize our team right now," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "The crazy thing is the explanations are extremely elusive."

The Blue and Gold continued to struggle with its shot, connecting on 31.6% from the floor and 6-for-24 (25%) from three-point range. For the season, La Salle is shooting 40.4% from the field and 30.2% from long distance.

"We haven't come close to shooting the ball well this year," Giannini said. "Today our shot selection was really strange. We took some bad shots and turned down good shots, which is the sign of a team that has started to stress over their shooting."

The Explorers were forced to play a small, four or five guard lineup, with junior Jerrell Wright being limited to six minutes with flu-like symptoms. He came into the game with double-doubles in three of his previous four contests.

"Jerrell being sick was a big loss for us tonight and Khalid being limited for the past seven weeks has been a set back," Giannini said.

Northern Iowa (3-3) was led by Nate Buss, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Seth Tuttle added 15.

For the second straight night, La Salle got off to a good start and led 16-10 nearly seven minutes into the game. But the Panthers responded with a 10-0 run to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

The Explorers took a 14-point deficit down to seven on several occasions but would draw no closer.

Junior D.J. Peterson had eight points and a career-high eight boards while senior Sam Mills added eight.

La Salle (3-4) has nine days off before returning to Gola Arena to host Hartford on Wednesday, December 4 at 7 PM.

"We have some time now to get into practice and make much needed improvements," Giannini said. "We really have to get better and there's no question we have a chance to. These kids have won and they are good players."