Men's Basketball | March 4, 2015

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team heads to crosstown rival Saint Joseph's for its final A-10 road game of the season. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. on Wednesday with TV coverage on CBSSN.

La Salle Explorers (15-14, 7-9 A-10) at Saint Joseph's Hawks (12-16, 6-10 A-10)
Wednesday, March 4 | 7 PM | Hagan Arena
 
TV: CBSSN (Tom McCarthy, Alaa Abdelnaby) 
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Game Notes
La Salle | Saint Joseph's

Last Time Out
La Salle fell to the Rhode Island Rams 59-56 on Saturday. Senior Jerrell Wright poured in a game-high 23 points to pair with eight rebounds for the Explorers, including five on the offensive glass. The senior was 5-for-7 with 12 points and five rebounds in the first half. The Explorers staged a valiant comeback effort in the second stanza, pulling to within a point in the closing minutes after trailing by as many as 15 early in the second half. However, La Salle couldn't complete the comeback as they were 2-5 from the foul line in the final 1:58.

All-Time Series
The Explorers have won six of the last nine games versus the Hawks. La Salle won 53-48 earlier this year at Tom Gola Arena thanks in part to the Explorers outscoring the Hawks 35-21 in the second half. Cleon Roberts scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half in the win. The Explorers captured a 71-63 win last season that saw Tyreek Duren score 27 points and Jerrell Wright finish with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Scouting the Explorers
Sophomore Jordan Price leads the team in scoring with 499 points on the year (17.2 ppg.). Price is just one point away from becoming the 23^rd player in La Salle men's basketball history to record 500 points in a single season and the first sophomore to do so since Steven Smith scored 512 points in the 2003-04 season.

The Explorers have turned up the heat defensively in league play, limiting conference opponents 62.5 points per game (3^rd in the A-10). Conference opponents shoot just 41.7 percent from the field, which ranks third behind George Washington (40.3) and Rhode Island (40.5). Those numbers go down to 55.7 and 34.9 in La Salle's six conference wins. The Blue and Gold also hold opponents to just a 21.5 three-point shooting percentage in their conference wins.

The Explorers feature one of the more dominant post duos in the Atlantic 10 with seniors  Steve Zack and Jerrell Wright. Zack ranks fifth in the conference by pulling down an average of 8.7 rebounds per league game and fifth in blocks at 1.7 per game. Wright has also been a constant source of scoring and rebounding for La Salle, averaging 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this year.

Scouting the Hawks
The Hawks are coming off a 63-57 loss to Richmond on Saturday night despite coming back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game with 2:56 remaining. The Hawks have lost four of their last five dating back to a 69-55 loss to Fordham on February 15. 

The Spiders limited DeAndre' Bembry to six points, marking the first time the sophomore hasn't scored in double figures in since a five-point output at Gonzaga on November 19. DeAndre' Bembry, a three-time Big 5 Player of the Week selection, leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring in both overall games  (18.0 ppg) and in A-10 play (19.3 ppg).

The Hawks have struggled offensively as a team this season, ranking 13th in the league in scoring (62.1 ppg) and last in field goal percentage (40.8). Saint Joseph's also ranks last in free throw percentage (62.1).  

Up Next
La Salle caps off the regular season by hosting Dayton on Saturday for Senior Day. Tip is slated for 4 p.m. with TV coverage on CBSSN and radio coverage on WNTP 990 AM in the Philadelphia area.