Men's Basketball | December 5, 2014
PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team heads to the Palestra on Saturday as they continue their stretch of Big 5 games with a matchup against Temple. Tip is scheduled for noon on ESPNnews.
La Salle Explorers vs. Temple OwlsSaturday, December 6 | 12:00 PM | The PalestraTV: ESPNnews | Watch on ESPN3 | pbp: Mike Crispino, color: Bob Knight
Radio: WNTP 990 AM | Live AudioLive Stats Live Tweets @GoExplorers | Text AlertsPurchase TicketsGame NotesLa Salle |
TempleLast Time OutLa Salle fell to No. 10/9 Villanova, 84-70, in their Big 5 opener on Wednesday. La Salle trimmed an 18-point Wildcat halftime lead to just 10 in the final minutes of the contest, but the visitors proved to be too much as they handed the Explorers their first loss at Tom Gola Arena this season. Senior
Jerrell Wright had a huge second half, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the after the break. Redshirt-Junior
Khalid Lewis had a season high 17 points in the loss.
Scouting the ExplorersRedshirt sophomore
Jordan Price leads the Big 5 and ranks sixth in the Atlantic 10 by averaging 16.6 ppg in his first season with the Explorers. The Decatur, Georgia native has scored in double figures in five games this year and scored 20 or more points three times. Price is shooting 35.9 percent from the floor and leads the team with an 81.6 percent clip at the line.
Seniors
Jerrell Wright and
Steve Zack have proved to be threats down low on the young season after earning preseason Atlantic 10 recognition. Wright is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game and has scored 19 points in each of the last two contests (Vanderbilt and Villanova). The seniors are the top two rebounders on the team with Zack leading the way averaging 7.6 boards per contest.
Redshirt freshman
Amar Stukes has provided a spark off of the bench for the Explorers as he ranks fifth on the team in scoring. Stukes is averaging 6.3 points per contest including double-digit scoring efforts against Colgate (10) and Saint Peter's (11). Senior
D.J. Peterson has helped propel the offense with 18 assists to just four turnovers this season.
La Salle has won four straight and six of its last seven games at the Palestra since November 26, 2011. The Palestra served as La Salle's primary home from 1955-56 to 1988-89 and the Explorers have continued to play a handful of games there each season. The Blue and Gold are 314-174 overall in the "Cathedral of Basketball."
Scouting the OwlsThe Owls enter the game after splitting their first two Big 5 games of the season. Temple picked up a win over Penn, 76-67, before falling 58-56 at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday evening. Temple made a push to erase a 12-point halftime deficit but came up just short against the Hawks.
Temple has been led offensively by a pair of upperclassmen. Senior Will Cummings and junior Quenton DeCosey lead the way averaging 14.9 and 13.4 points per game, respectively. Cunningham, a 6-2 guard has gotten to the free-throw line 50 times on the season to help supplement his scoring. The senior also leads the team in rebounds, averaging 6.9 boards per game. DeCosey has been the biggest outside threat for the Owls, hitting 34.5 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
Sophomore Mark Williams has aided in the scoring, particularly against Penn where he scored a game-high 24 points after going 8-for-10 from the field. Junior Devontae Watson has helped the Owls protect the rim as he leads the team with eight blocks.
Temple head coach Fran Dunphy is a 1970 graduate of La Salle and had two stints as an assistant coach for the Explorers (1979-80, 1985-88). He was a member of the 1968-69 La Salle team that went 23-1 and is considered one of the best teams in Big 5 history.
Up NextThe Explorers have a week off during the University's exam period and will return to action on Saturday, December 13, as they travel to Drexel for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Dragons.
