Men's Basketball | February 26, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team welcomes Atlantic 10 leading Rhode Island to Tom Gola Arena for a matinee matchup on Saturday with tip slated for 12:30 p.m. from Tom Gola Arena. The game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. 

La Salle Explorers (15-13, 7-8 A-10) vs. Rhode Island Rams (19-7, 11-4 A-10)
TV: NBC Sports Network (Russ Thaler, Ben Howland) | Live Video (FREE) | To watch on a phone or tablet, download the NBC Sports Extra App
Radio: WNTP 990 AM | Live Audio 

Live Stats  | Media Stats
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Game Notes
La Salle | Rhode Island

Last Time Out
La Salle fell on the road to Fordham, 63-48, on Wednesday evening. Fordham used an 11-2 run late in the first half to build a lead from which they would never look back. Sophomore Jordan Price finished with a game-high with 16 points while senior Jerrell Wright also joined in him double figures with 11 points on the evening.

All-Time Series
The Explorers have won four of the past five matchups between the two programs including a 72-62 win last season at Tom Gola Arena. Earlier this season La Salle dropped a 59-47 decision to the Rams at the Ryan Center.

Explorer Notes
• With a win today, the senior class will become the winningest class at La Salle since the Class of 1993, which won 83 games.
 
• Jerrell Wright moved into the top 10 at La Salle in career boards with 808. Steve Zack has 761 and is in 14th.
 
• Sophomore Jordan Price has 495 points this season and needs five to reach 500 for the season. Twenty-two Explorers have accomplished that feat a total of 55 times. The last sophomore to reach 500 points in a season was Steven Smith in 2003-04 (512, 17.1 ppg.).
 
• Senior Jerrell Wright has appeared in 127 games in his career, which ranks fourth in school history. Tyreek Duren is first with 132, followed by Lionel Simmons (131) and Sam Mills (129). DJ Peterson is fifth with 124.
 
• In his last eight games, Jordan Price is averaging 22.5 ppg., 6.1 rpg., 2.4 apg. and 3.0 three's per game.
 
• La Salle has won four of the last five meetings with Rhode Island.
 
• La Salle is allowing just 62.6 ppg., which is the best since the 1950-51 Explorers allowed 60.9.
 
• Jordan Price is second in the A-10 in free throw shooting (.813) and the Explorers are third as a team (.705).
 
• La Salle's final three regular season games are all in Philadelphia on national television.

Scouting the Rams
Rhode Island has been fueled by the emergence of underclassmen this season. The Rams have seen freshmen and sophomores play 32.4% of the team's minutes which is the third-most in the Atlantic 10. The underclassmen have accounted for 64.7% of the team's points at this point in the season.

Sophomore E.C. Matthews leads the Rams in scoring and ranks seventh in the conference with 16.3 points per contest. The Detroit native also is in the top ten in the A-10 thanks to his 51 three-pointers on the season which averages to 2.0 per contest.

Matthews' classmate Hassan Martin has also played a vital role for the Rams this season. Martin ranks 22^nd in the conference and second on the team scoring 11.9 points per contest. He leads the league in field goal percentage shooting .627. The Staten Island native also is in the top ten in rebounding (8.0 per contest) and leads the league in blocked shots with 82 despite being just 6-7.

As a team the Rams have used defense to help fuel their offense. Rhode Island is third in the Atlantic 10 with 6.9 steals per game and leads the league in blocked shots at 5.8 per contest. They have also limited opponents chances as they lead the league with 32.2 defensive rebounds per game and rank fourth in rebounding margin, winning the battle on the boards by an average of 3.8 per game.

Up Next
La Salle makes the quick trip to Saint Joseph's for its final road game of the year on Wednesday with tip scheduled for 7 p.m. from Hagan Arena and TV coverage on CBSSN.