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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – La Salle men's basketball again found themselves on the wrong side of the razor thin edge that separates victory and defeat in the Atlantic 10. The Explorers dropped another home heartbreaker in the waning seconds against an excellent opponent Saturday evening at Tom Gola Arena, falling 65-63 to #13 ranked Saint Louis.
 
With the score knotted at 63 apiece in the final possession, Jordair Jett drove and netted an off-balanced layup over a block attempt from Steve Zack with just 3.7 seconds remaining. A half-court game-winning three-point attempt from Tyrone Garland was just long, clanging off the backboard, sending the Blue and Gold to another heart wrenchingly close defeat.
 
"I'm still shocked with how infinitesimally small the difference between winning and losing is," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "Just one play changes everything."
 
Junior forward Jerrell Wright led the Explorers with 21 points (8-of-16 FG; 5-of-7 FT) and added eight rebounds.
 
The Explorer defense took a little while to settle in during the early going. Saint Louis repeatedly got easy looks off the bounce or from deft feeds down low. At the first media timeout the Billikens were 5-of-8 from the field and had jumped out to the early 10-4 lead.
 
The Explorers (12-11; 4-5 A-10) turned to sophomore guard Khalid Lewis to help spark the defense. Though his efforts did not show up in the stat sheet in the opening half, he limited the impact of explosive Billikens guard Jordair Jett. With Lewis shadowing Jett, the senior guard could only muster six points in the half.
 
Once the defense began to settle in, the Blue and Gold offense started to find cracks in the lockdown Billiken defense. With the perimeter locked down by the Billikens physical defense, the Blue and Gold looked to push the ball inside to the big men.
 
Trailing by nine with 13:09 left in the half, the Explorers strung together a 10-2 run on the efforts of Zack and Wright to cut the deficit to one. Jerrell Wright powered through a foul to send home a two-handed slam to cap the run, lighting up the Explorer crowd.
 
Zack would finish with a monster game. He notched his 13^th double-double of the season, netting 15 points (7-of-11 FG; 1-of-2 FT) and collecting 13 rebounds.
 
"Steve Zack played the game at the highest level," Giannini said. "He did his part and more."
 
The Billikens responded with a quick 8-0 run over the next 1:20 of action, to reestablish the lead.
 
With the game threatening to get away heading into halftime, the Explorers again buckled down. The Blue and Gold put an 11-4 run together to close within a possession with 40 seconds remaining. They forced a Billiken turnover, as Saint Louis hoped to convert on their last possession. With just three seconds and change remaining, Tyreek Duren drove the floor and hit a runner to deadlock the score heading into the break, sending the crowd into a frenzy who showered the Blue and Gold with cheers as they headed to the locker room.
 
Duren would finish with 14 points, adding four assists and four rebounds.
 
Riding the momentum following their furious comeback to tie the game heading into the half, the Explorers came out with purpose in the second stanza. The Blue and Gold looked to push to ball to Jerrell Wright and he did not disappoint. Wright sparked a 7-4 run with two thunderous dunks, one on a put back and another on an alley-oop, to grab the Explorers first lead of the game, in the process sending Tom Gola Arena to a fever pitch.
 
Both teams answered each other over the next few exchanges, battling to a 50-50 stalemate midway through the second half. As the game headed down the back-stretch, the Billikens put the ball in the hands of their All-Conference guard Jett.
 
He did not disappoint.
 
"He's a big-strong guard with great speed so anytime you go up against a guy like that it's going to be a challenge," Duren said postgame.
 
Jett continually attacked the Explorers in the lane down the stretch. With his blazing speed off the bounce and strength to finish at the rack, the Blue and Gold could find no answers. Jett finished with a game-high 25 points, including 19 of the Billikens final 22 points.
 
"He's super strong," Giannini said. "He's strong physically, he's strong mentally, he's going to go to the basket and he does it against everybody."
 
An 11-4 run, fueled almost entirely by Jett, stretched the Billiken lead to seven with five minutes to play.
 
However, the Explorers heart and resolve proved steadfast throughout, as again they battled to hang in. A 7-0 run, capped by a huge three-pointer from Tyreek Duren, got Gola Arena shaking again and tied the score a 61 with 1:15 to play.
 
Unfortunately for the Explorers they again found themselves just one play short in the crucial moments, as Jett's heroics staved off the Explorers upset bid.
 
The Blue and Gold return to action next Saturday when they take on Big 5 rival Saint Joseph's at Tom Gola Arena. Opening tip is scheduled for 11:00am and will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.