OLEAN, N.Y.– The La Salle men's basketball team will look to extend its winning streak to six games when it visits St. Bonaventure on Wednesday at 9 PM. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

La Salle Explorers (11-6, 3-0 A-10) at St. Bonaventure Bonnies (11-7, 1-3 A-10)
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 | 9 PM | Reilly Center

TV: CBS Sports Network (John Sadak, Chris Walker)
Radio: 990 AM WNTP (Kale Beers, Steve Degler)
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Game Notes
La Salle | St. Bonaventure

Last Time Out
The Explorers won their fifth straight game and moved to 2-1 in Big 5 play, edging the Temple Owls 74-68 at The Palestra. Tyreek Duren had a monster game, posting 20 points and dishing seven assists. Steve Zack had one of his strongest games of the season against outstanding Temple forward Anthony Lee. Zack finished with ten points, while pulling down 15 rebounds.
 
All-Time Series
The Explorers are 14-11 all-time against St. Bonaventure. The Blue and Gold currently have a three-game winning streak against the Bonnies dating back to the 2010-11 season, with two of the wins coming at the Reilly Center. This includes a 69-66 overtime victory for the Explorers last season. The Explorers jumped out to an 11-point halftime lead, but St. Bonaventure would battle back to send the game into overtime. Tyrone Garland would seal the game on the foul line, scoring La Salle's final three points from the charity stripe.
 
Ramon Galloway paced the Explorers in last year's contest, netting 23 points, while collecting six rebounds and dishing five assists. Garland added 16 points and three assists.

Coach's Corner
Head Coach Dr. John Giannini on:

The challenge of playing at St. Bonaventure...
...They get on you from warm-ups. There are a lot of places where they got on you during the game but when you walk out there an hour before the game, their students are already on you. They've said some of the funniest things to me and my players that I've experienced. They play with great confidence there. It's historically a tough place to play so we just have to make our players aware of all those things all over again and just be ready fro a really tough game.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle's five-game winning streak can be credited, in large part, to improved shooting efficiency. The Explorers have shot 49 percent (125-255) from the field and 40 percent from long range (38-96) in the span. Comparatively, the Blue and Gold shot 40 percent (287-712) from the field and 30 percent (63-208) from deep through their first 12 games.

Senior point guard Tyreek Duren has been a catalyst during the stretch, averaging 17.0 points/game and 4.6 assists/game. He leads the team in scoring (14.1 ppg), good for fifteenth in the Atlantic 10. He ranks first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.4), third in minutes/game (35.2), ninth in assists/game (3.9), ninth in free throw percentage (.775), and eighth in steals/game (1.5).

Junior Steve Zack is tied for fifth nationally with 10 double-doubles. He leads the A-10 in rebounds/game (9.7) and ranks fourth in the league in blocks/game (2.1). Frontcourt mate and classmate Jerrell Wright is third on the squad in scoring (12.9 ppg) and second in rebounds/game (6.1).

Senior Tyrone Garland is second on the team in scoring (13.9 ppg). He is shooting 43 percent from the field during the Explorer's winning streak. Senior Sam Mills has turned it on from long range of late, bucketing 18 of his last 35 (51%), spanning the last seven games. Junior D.J. Peterson and sophomore Khalid Lewis continue to play major minutes to add depth to the backcourt.   

Coach's Corner
SBU Head Coach Mark Schmidt on:

The threat of Tyreek Duren...
...He's terrific. He makes them go. Tyreek is the engine for La Salle. He's a consummate team player, somebody that can score when he needs to score, can deliver the pass when he needs to deliver the pass. He gives those guys courage, keeps them always under control; every year he's gotten better and better. He's a leader of the team so as he goes, they go. I'm impressed by watching them on tape; it seems like he's been there for 10 years. But he's an extremely good player and one of the reasons La Salle is such a good team. 

Scouting the Bonnies
St. Bonaventure concluded their non-conference slate with a 10-4 mark and got off to an excellent start to Atlantic 10 play with an 84-70 pasting of Richmond at the Reilly Center. Things haven't gone so smoothly since, as the Bonnies have dropped three straight competitive tilts at UMass, at Saint Louis, and against George Washington. They enter Wednesday night's tilt against the Explorers with a 1-3 mark in Atlantic 10 play.
 
The Bonnies rank middle of the A-10 pack in most categories. However, one area that they excel is on the offensive glass. They rank third in the conference in offensive rebounding, pulling down an average of 13.6 per game. St. Bonaventure is first in the conference in offensive rebound percentage, pulling down 244 in 644 opportunities. The Explorers must be conscious on the defensive glass to minimize the Bonnies secondary point opportunities.
 
Senior guard Matthew Wright paces the Bonnies backcourt. He ranks ninth in the conference in scoring average, pouring in 15.4 points/game. He has also been a steady creator for the St. Bonaventure, ranking 12^th in the A-10 averaging 3.3 assists/game.
 
Senior guard Charlon Kloof joins Wright to form a potent one-two punch in the St. Bonaventure backcourt. He ranks second on the team in scoring average, pouring in 11.9 points/game. Where Kloof excels most is his distribution of the basketball. He is one of the very best in the A-10, ranking third overall in total assists with 85 and second in assists/game average (4.7). He also is crafty on the defensive end as well, ranking 15^th in the A-10 in steals/game average (1.3).
 
Sophomore forward Dion Wright and junior center Youssou Ndoye form a strong duo in the frontcourt. Both players average nine points/game. Ndoye is the greater force on the glass. He is tied for 19^th in the conference in rebounds/game average (5.9). He ranks fifth in the conference in blocked shots with 37 overall and averaging 2.1 blocks/game.

Up Next
La Salle returns to Tom Gola Arena for a noon tilt on Saturday vs. VCU. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.