Men's Basketball | November 4, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team opens its 2015-16 season on Saturday, November 7 when it hosts Philadelphia University in an exhibition game. Admission is free for all fans. The Explorers will begin their regular season the following weekend when they host Towson on Saturday, November 14 for homecoming.

Philadelphia University Rams at La Salle Explorers 
Saturday, November 7, 2014 | 2 PM | Tom Gola Arena

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Scouting the Explorers
Junior Jordan Price returns following a season that saw him earn Second Team All-Atlantic 10, First Team All-Big 5, and Second Team All-NABC honors in his first year on the court for La Salle. The Decatur, Ga. native has been named preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team by the league's head coaches prior to the tipoff of the 2015-16 campaign. Price finished second in the Atlantic 10 averaging 17.2 ppg while adding 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the Explorers.

La Salle will look to fill the shoes of three graduating senior starters from last season in Jerrell Wright, Steve Zack and D. J. Peterson.  Zack and Wright were a force in the frontcourt for La Salle as the pair started 33 and 32 games respectively and accounted for 46% of rebounds on the season for the Explorers. The trio of redshirt sophomore Tony Washington, redshirt senior Rohan Brown, and sophomore Yevgen Sakhniuk will look to fill their shoes. Brown appeared in 28 games for La Salle, shooting an efficient .478 on the season. He averaged 1.6 rebounds a game. Washington appeared in 13 games off of the bench for La Salle pulling down six rebounds. Sakhniuk sat out last season after serving a NCAA mandated year in residence.
 
The Explorers return a wealth of experience in the front court to go along with Price. Redshirt junior Cleon Roberts returns after making 22 starts a season ago. Roberts was second on the team with 141 threes on the season while shooting .333 from the outside. Redshirt sophomore Amar Stukes also returns following a season that saw him make 15 starts at point guard on the season. The Philadelphia native averaged 1.3 assists per contest while shooting .448 from the field. Sophomore Johnnie Shuler is coming off as season that saw him appear in 23 games off the bench. Shuler provided a spark making 12 shots from beyond the arch while shooting .411 from beyond the arch against conference opponents.
 
Also in the mix at guard is a pair of freshman with Karl Harris and Dusan Majstorovic joining the program this season. Harris comes to 20^th and Olney after earning Third Team 3A/4A All-State honors at De La Salle Institute in Chicago last season. Majstorovic joins the Explorers from Lee Academy in Main, the alma mater of D.J. Peterson. Majstorovic averaged 14 points and six rebounds at Lee Academy and has also played for the Under-16 Serbian national team.
 
Scouting the Rams
Philadelphia University enters the season coming off a year that saw them go 24-8 and reach the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Rams are ranked 25^th by NABC in their Pre-Season Rankings.  Philadelphia University are led by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, Herb Magee who begins his 49^th season in charge of the Rams program this season. Magee has accumulated 1009 career wins while holding a .7166 career winning percentage. He has led the Rams to 28 NCAA Tournaments during his tenure.
 
The Rams feature a rebuilt roster for a season ago as they lost seven players from last season's team including 62.5% of their scoring from a season ago. Senior Peter Alexis is the top returning scorer on the squad as he is coming off a season that saw him average 15.0 points per contest. His classmate TJ Huggins also returns having made 30 starts and averaged 9.3 points per contest.
 
Philadelphia University will look to junior transfer Brendan Kilpatrick to help offset the roster turnover. The transfer from Vermont will look to make an immediate impact coming off a season that saw him appear in 21 games while making three starts. He scored a season-high 13 points at UMBC while pulling down six rebounds at Binghamton.
 
Alexis is also a difference maker in the paint, thanks to his 7-0 frame. He averaged 2.4 blocks per contest while pulling down an average of 9.8 rebounds per contest. He was named All-CACC thanks to leading the conference with 78 blocks on the season. He finished with 17 double-doubles on the season which was a team-high.   
  
Exhibition Rewind
The Explorers also opened the 2014-15 season against Philadelphia University. The Blue and Gold handled the Rams by a final score of 79-61. Jordan Price scored a team-high 16 points while going 4-for-7 from three in the contest. Amar Stukes added 10 points of his own, while hooting 4-5 in the contest. 
 
All-Time Series
The Explorers are 5-0 all-time against Philadelphia University, going back to their time as "Philadelphia College of Textiles & Sciences." The series against the Rams started in 1931, with the most recent matchup coming last year as La Salle cruised to a 79-61 victory.
  
Up Next
The Explorers open up the regular season on Saturday November, 14 as they welcome Towson for a 3:00 pm tip which will also serve as the university's Homecoming game. Tickets are available by visiting www.goexplorers.com/buytickets.