Box Score
Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team opened 2014 in style against Penn, defeating its Big 5 rival 76-57 in a game much more lopsided than the final score indicated. Junior Jerrell Wright led all players with a career-high tying 21 points (8-of-9 FG; 5-of-7 FT) and added six rebounds. TSeniors Tyreek Duren and Tyrone Garland each added 14 points for the Blue and Gold. Tony Hicks paced the Quakers with 16 points.
 
"We were very anxious to get back out there," Wright said. "We've been treating practice like games, going very hard in practice, it felt great to get back out there today."
 
The Explorers (7-6, 1-1 Big 5) showed no rust after a season-long 13-day layoff, attacking Penn on both ends of the floor in the opening 20-minutes. The Blue and Gold jumped out early lead and never looked back. With the score knotted at 7-7, Garland made a beautiful slashing drive, and on the ensuing Penn possession stole a pass and took it coast to coast for the easy layup. This sparked a 9-0 run, capped by a Wright layup, to break the game open at 16-7 with 14:49 to play in the opening frame.
 
The Quakers battled hard coming off a heartbreaking three-point loss to George Mason, but seemed to be feeling the effects of a long trip home after getting caught in the snowstorm that battered the Northeast Thursday evening.
 
"Last year we got caught in a blizzard returning from VCU, and we weren't the same team for 4-5 days," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "When I saw their George Mason game and how the weather combined with that I kind of thought it would be hard on them. The schedule, weather, and travel played to our advantage, but I am proud of our guys, they played great."
 
La Salle looked to exploit the Quakers down low early and often. With sophomore big man Darien Nelson-Henry out, Wright found little resistance from the defensive frontcourt. He poured in ten of the team's first 20.
 
"My team was just getting me the ball in the right spot," Wright said.

"Everybody on the team believes that when he touches the ball in the low block it is kind of impossible to stop him," Duren added.
 
The Explorers hit a brief lull midway through the opening half with a 3:25 scoring drought. However, the Quakers could not take advantage, only cutting the La Salle lead by three at 16-10. This proved costly for Penn, as the Explorers would rediscover their hot shooting stroke. Back-to-back three-pointers from Garland and Duren pushed the La Salle lead to 13 with eight minutes remaining.
 
The Blue and Gold knocked down eight three-pointers and shot 40% (8-of-20) from beyond the arc in the contest.
 
"I think that's what a lot of people have been looking for that all year," Duren said. "Our bigs have been playing good, but our guards weren't really shooting the ball too well. I think today is a good sign for us moving forward."
 
Penn (2-10, 0-3 Big 5) would again push back, cutting the deficit to ten. However, the Explorers would control play down the stretch. A Garland three-pointer and two free throws apiece from Rohan Brown and Wright helped the Explorers establish their biggest lead of the game at 36-20 heading into halftime.
 
"The game is only half over at that point," Giannini said. "Our guys came out in the second half and played hard and I am really proud of that."
 
If there were any doubt on whether the Explorers would emerge victorious on this day Jerrell Wright expunged it in the opening minutes of the second half. Wright came out on fire after the intermission, jump starting a 22-3 run to begin the second stanza. He scored the Blue and Gold's first eight points for the streaking Explorers. When the dust settled on the furious run, the Explorers now led 58-23 with 12:16 remaining.
 
Overall, the Explorers strung together a 30-5 run from the 3:19 mark of the first half to the 12:16 point of the second half.

With the game in-hand, the Explorers got twelve players playing time in their final non-conference tune-up before A-10 play begins next Thursday against George Washington at 8 PM on NBC Sports Network.
 
"I am really pleased, I thought our effort was really good," Giannini said. "We really played well."