Men's Basketball | December 29, 2015

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The La Salle men's basketball team heads to Florida Gulf Coast for its final non-conference game prior to beginning Atlantic 10 Conference play as it takes on the Eagles on Thursday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1:30 PM on ESPN3. 
 
La Salle Explorers (4-5) at Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (6-7)
Thursday, December 31 | 1:30 PM | Fort Myers, Fla.

TV: ESPN3 | Watch Live
Live Audio | Live Stats
Live Tweets @GoExplorers 

Game Notes
La Salle | Florida Gulf Coast

Last Time Out
La Salle fell to No. 13/16 Miami at The Palestra on December 22 with sophomore Johnnie Shuler leading the team with nine points and five rebounds on the evening. Classmate Tony Washington pulled down 10 rebounds in the loss which was the second time this season he has finished in double-digits in rebounds. Washington added eight points as did sophomore Yevgen Sakhniuk and graduate student Rohan Brown.

Scouting the Explorers
• Jordan Price is currently 12^th in the nation in scoring at 22.6 points per game. He is second in the A-10 behind Jack Gibbs of Davidson (24.6).

• This game is a homecoming for Cleon Roberts, who grew up in Miami, roughly a 2.5 hour drive from Fort Myers. La Salle transfers Pookie Powell (Orlando) and Demetrius Henry (Miami) are also Florida natives.

•Price needs only 84 points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. He scored 145 at Auburn and has 771 as an Explorer.

•Johnnie Shuler is second in the A-10 and 11^th nationally in minutes per game (37.2).

•Tony Washington is second in the A-10 and 29^th nationally in blocks per game (2.5).

La Salle-Florida Gulf Coast Connections
While this is the first matchup between the two programs they do share some history. Both programs reached the 2013 Sweet Sixteen.

Cleon Roberts and Zach Johnson of FGCU both attended Miami-Norland High School, however, they did not play together while at Norland.

Jordan Price and Brian Greene Jr. of FGCU both spent their freshman campaigns at Auburn in 2012-13. Price made five starts while Greene started a pair of contests. Price averaged 5.4 points per contest while Greene contributed 2.9.

Pookie Powell and Marc-Eddy Norelia attended rival high schools in Orlando during their prep careers. Powell helped lead Dr. Phillips to a 75-62 win over Norelia and Olympia High School  in December of 2011. Powell scored a game-high 26 points while Norelia had a team-high 19.

The Eagles sophomore Antravious Simmons spent the entire 2013-14 seasons and part of the 2014-15 season at VCU before transferring to FGCU. Simmons did not appear against La Salle during his time at the A-10 rival.

Scouting the Eagles
-Florida Gulf Coast has already taken down one A-10 opponent this season. The Eagles grabbed a 77-76 win over Massachusetts in early December.  

-The Eagles have ten different players who have reached double-figure points in a game this season. Only Georgia Southern (11) has more players who have reached double-figures.    

-FGCU has been a force on the boards all season as they rank ninth in the nation at total rebounds with 553 on the season. They rank 35^th nationally and leads the Atlantic Sun pulling down 28.85 defensive rebounds per contest. They also lead the conference at offensive rebounding averaging 13.69 per contest which is good for 40^th in the nation.

-The Eagles have been efficient at limiting opponents three point shooting on the season. They are only allowing opponents to hit 24.7% of their threes on the season which is the third lowest total in the nation.    

-Marc-Eddy Norelia leads the Atlantic Sun and is in the top 20 nationally with six double-doubles on the season. He also ranks 32^nd nationally and leads the conference with 115 rebounds on the season.

Up Next
The Explorers open up Atlantic 10 play as they welcome Massachusetts to Tom Gola Arena on Sunday, January 3 with tip slated at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on NBCSN. Tickets are available by visiting www.goexplorers.com/buytickets.