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LOS ANGELES, Calif. – La Salle's run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament came to an end on Thursday night as ninth-seeded Wichita State defeated the Explorers, 72-58, at the Staples Center. The Shockers held a significant advantage on the boards and clamped down on the Blue and Gold defensively.

Sophomore Jerrell Wright and junior Tyrone Garland each had 16 points, while senior Ramon Galloway finished his impressive two-year career at La Salle by scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.

La Salle (24-10) completed its latest run  into NCAA Tournament since reaching the final game in 1955. The 24 wins were the most since the 1989-90 team won 30 and are the seventh most in school history.

“The season's over, but the way we help each other is not over,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “The sense of family is not over.  Even the guys leaving, Ramon and Garvin, they'll always be part of our family.  But everyone else is back.  We have a number of what I think are key additions, so we're really excited.”

The Shockers (29-8) jumped on the Explorers in the early going, racing to a 14-2 lead in the first four minutes. Wichita State scored all 14 points in the paint during the run.

“Wichita State won the game in the first half,” Giannini said. “They really overwhelmed us.  It took us a half to kind of adjust to the level they were playing at.  I thought the second half was pretty evenly played, but they just had too big a lead, and we just couldn't get it down to single digits.”
The WSU lead reached 14 points before the Explorers rallied to cut it to single digits. But a 9-1 run to end the half gave the Missouri Valley Conference runner-up a 38-22 lead heading into intermission.

Two straight three's to start the half grew the lead to a game-high 22 points before La Salle used a quick 10-0 run to make it 44-32 with 16:27 to play. Wright had seven points during the spurt.

The Explorers got the game within 11 points on two occasions but would get no closer.

Malcom Armstead had a game-high 18 points while Carl Hall had 16. Ron Baker scored 13 for the Shockers, which out-rebounded La Salle 47-29.

Galloway finishes his La Salle career with 1,023 points in just two seasons to rank 47^th all-time. He scored 1,588 points during his college career, including his two seasons at South Carolina. Galloway ranks tenth on the La Salle single-season list with 94 three-pointers and is the second best career three-point shooter in program history behind Tim Legler. He also passed Legler to move into 12^th on La Salle's all-time three-point field goal list.

Galloway and senior Garvin Hunt are the only Explorers that won't be back for next season. Additions include Delaware transfer Khalid Lewis, redshirt Jermaine Davis and fall signee Amar Stukes from La Salle College High School.

“Everybody knows what it feels like to be here now,” Galloway said. “We were in the NIT.  We knew how that felt.  We were in the NCAA Tournament; we won games, got to the Sweet Sixteen.  We know how this feels.

“I think it's going to push our guys to work harder in the summertime and next year.  So without a doubt in my mind, I know we'll be back.  Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean anything.  Everybody's great.  We all help each other and love each other as a family.”