Men's Basketball | December 22, 2014

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The La Salle men's basketball team rounds out its road trip on Tuesday afternoon as the Explorers take on Hofstra with tip scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
La Salle Explorers (6-5) at Hofstra Pride (7-3) 
Tuesday, December 23 | 4 PM | Mack Sports Complex

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Game Notes
La Salle | Hofstra
 
Last Time Out
Redshirt sophomore Jordan Price scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Explorers to a 67-53 win over the host Towson Tigers. La Salle limited Towson to just 32.6% shooting from the field and held the Tigers scoreless from behind the arch despite 14 attempted threes. Price went 8-for-16 from the field and 12-for-14. La Salle used an 11-2 run in the first half to grab control of the game and never looked back. Senior Steve Zack pulled down a season high 14 rebounds.
 
All-Time Series
This will be the 20^th all-time matchup between the two schools with La Salle holding a 14-5 advantage in the series history.  The Explorers are 8-2 in the last ten matchups with Hofstra, but the Pride have come out on top in the last two games including a 71-70 win at Tom Gola Arena in 2005. The Explorers last trip to Mack Sports Complex came in 2004 which saw Hofstra pull out a 79-59 victory.
 
Scouting the Explorers
Jordan Price, the reigning A-10 and Big 5 Player of the Week, enters the game leading the Big 5 averaging 17.9 points per game which is good for second in the Atlantic 10. The redshirt sophomore is also one of four players nationally with multiple games of 25+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists having achieved this against American and St. Francis Brooklyn. Price also become the first Atlantic 10 player with multiple 30-point games this season thanks to his 31 points against Towson.

Senior Steve Zack is one of only seven players in the nation with at least 18 blocks and 21 assists on the season and is the only Atlantic 10 player to have achieved that. Zack pulled down a game high 14 rebounds and added three blocks and four assists in the Explorers win over Towson on Saturday. Zack and fellow senior Jerrell Wright each rank in the top ten in the Atlantic 10 having pulled down 8.9 and 6.6 rebounds per game respectively. Wright also ranks fifth in the conference averaging 3.1 offensive rebounds per game.

Defense continues to be the cornerstone of success for La Salle this season. The Explorers are limiting opponents to an average of 54.7 points per game and a 33.9 field goal percentage in their six wins compared to 68.4 ppg and a 48.7 field goal percentage in losses this season.
 
Scouting the Pride
Hofstra Head Coach Joe Mihalich is a 1978 graduate of La Salle with a B.S. in mathematics and education and served as an assistant coach for the Explorers from 1981-1998 under Dave "Lefty" Ervin and William "Speedy" Morris. Mihalich has faced off against his alma mater twice as a head coach, splitting the two matchups while he was the head coach at Niagara.   

The Pride return to Mack Sports Complex for just the second time in over a month having played five of their last six games on the road including their past three games. Hofstra went 2-1 in their three game road trip grabbing wins over Appalachian State and Coppin State before dropping an 82-77 decision to Columbia in New York on Saturday.

Juniors forward Ameen Tanksley and guard Juan'ya Green have led Hofstra in scoring averaging 18.3 and 18.1 points per game respectively. Tanksley also leads the pride averaging 5.9 rebounds per contest while Green has guided the team with 61 assists on the season and a 3.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.

Up Next
La Salle returns to Tom Gola Arena to close out its non-conference slate with a matchup against Penn on Tuesday, December 30 with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.