Men's Basketball | May 28, 2015
Photo GalleryPHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team recently returned from a foreign tour of the Czech Republic, going 4-0 on the court and experiencing the city of Prague. The trip was funded entirely through the generosity of donors and friends of the program.
"The month of May gave us ten great practices; a faster, more movement-oriented offense; successful experience for Johnnie, Yevgen, and Tony; strong play from our returnees; and a greater sense of confidence," head coach
Dr. John Giannini said. "We look to 2015-16 with great excitement."
"Perhaps even more importantly, our student-athletes enjoyed the architecture, culture, history and people of an amazing place," Giannini continued. "It was a valuable and memorable life experience."
La Salle 93, Literomerice 51 – May 21, 2015The Explorers began their Czech Republic foreign tour and their first ever game in Europe with a strong 93-51 road win against Slavoj Literomerice, which won the Czech League (2nd Division) championship with a 26-2 record and had an undefeated home mark.
Slavoj Literomerice had their hot perimeter shooting halted by the Explorers stifling up-tempo pressure. The Explorer defense held Litomerice to 26% from 3pt range and 29% for the game from the field. La Salle forced 29 turnovers, which led to 35 Explorer points.
"I don't think we could have played with much more effort defensively today," head coach
Dr. John Giannini said. "Our guys did a great job carrying over the intensity and teaching in practice to the game. We were very quick and disruptive. Our newer players showed good progress which is a major goal of this trip. Tony, Johnnie, and Yevgen all made great contributions. Our opponents were veteran and well coached and their crowd was great. The game definitely made us better and our guys responded exactly as I was hoping"
La Salle was able to get a glimpse into the future of Explorer Basketball and the aspiring careers of rising sophomores
Johnnie Shuler,
Tony Washington, and
Yevgen Sakhniuk. Shuler led the way for the Explorers with 17 points connecting on a team high three three-pointers. Washington dominated both the boards and the paint finishing with a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Sakhniuk finished perfect from the field on five shots while compiling 11 points and five rebounds in his Explorer debut.
Khalid Lewis and
Amar Stukes both reached double digits, scoring 14 and 13 points that added to the Explorers 52% field goal percentage.
La Salle only led by five points after the first quarter, but used its tenacious defense to create opportunities and take control of the game for good. The Explorers led for 39 of the 40 minutes and look to build on their relentless effort as they take on the under-20 Czech National Team tomorrow afternoon in the second game of their four game tour.
La Salle 94, U-20 Czech National Team 74 – May 22, 2015In game two of the Explorers tour of Czech Republic, La Salle faced a well-rounded Under-20 Czech Republic National Team. La Salle jumped out to an early lead with the help of a hot hand by
Jordan Price. Price collected 18 of his game high 30 points in the first quarter, connecting on 4-5 from three-point range.
Washington built off his prior game success contributing 21 points and seven rebounds, on a perfect 9-9 from the field. He also anchored the Explorer defense by blocking three shots.
Cleon Roberts rounded out the offensive onslaught finishing with 21 points on 8-18 shooting. The Explorers finished with 94 points while shooting 51 percent from the field and 39 percent from behind the arc.
"The Czech U-20 National Team was extremely well coached and highly motivated," Giannini said. "They had players very capable of playing at the NCAA Division I level. Our defense remained at a high level even though
Amar Stukes suffered a thigh bruise that limited him to 11 minutes.
Tony Washington had an absolutely great game against opponents his size and age, so that is extremely positive. Jordan and Cleon played well with Jordan having a great shooting day."
The ferocious defense of the Explorers was again the back-bone for the team's success. The Explorers intensity forced 14 steals and held the Czech players to 74 points. The Explorers look to be picking up where they ended the year, having the top defense in the league. La Salle beat the U-20 Czech National Team 94-74 and look to move to 3-0 as they take on the Prague All-Stars.
La Salle 83, Prague All Stars White 77 – May 23, 2015Game 3 of the La Salle Explorers foreign tour matched them against the Prague All Stars (White), comprised of top Czech and Slovakian 1st Division professional players. The hot shooting Prague All-Stars posed the first threat to the Explorers on their tour, but the Explorers prevailed 83-77.
The Explorers were led again by Price and Roberts, who finished with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Price, Roberts, and Shuler connected on 8-21 from 3 point range.
Rohan Brown was the spark the Explorers needed. His intensity and relentlessness on both ends of the court helped sustain the Explorers tenacity. Brown finished with a near double-double of nine points and 10 rebounds. New-comer
Yevgen Sakhniuk was the fourth double digit scorer for La Salle and ended with 12 points (5-7 FG) and 7 rebounds.
"Our opponents were older, stronger players that would be very good at the A-10 level," Giannini said. "They had little practice together but their experience allowed them to play an intelligent, tough game. Johnnie, Jordan, and Cleon shot the ball well.
Rohan Brown was terrific with tremendous rebounding, defensive and physical effort. He is in the best shape of his life and is embracing the role and opportunity we have presented him with. Yevgen is also consistently scoring down low and rebounding well. We had a 20-point lead but fatigue started to set in and I was very pleased with how we fought through that. With only seven guys playing a lot today (no Amar) and the third game in three days along with travel and ten hard practices behind us, we really had to tough it out physically."
The Explorers were able to match the physicality of the Prague All-Stars (white) on both sides of the ball. Finishing inside and battling for rebounds. Five Explorers finished with five or more rebounds, which helped limit second chance opportunities and secure the third straight victory for the La Salle Explorers. La Salle looks to make a clean sweep of their foreign tour in its final game against the Prague All-Stars (Red).
La Salle 81, Prague All Stars Red 73 – May 24, 2015The final game of the tour around the Czech Republic was the definition of a rumble. The Explorers faced the Prague All Stars (Red) who brought a wealth of experience and physicality. The three prior days of competition and the six days of travel seemed to take its toll on the Explorers legs. Despite heavy legs, the Explorers were able to dig deep and complete the four game sweep, by beating the Prague All Stars (Red) 81-73.
Brown again provided the spark for the Explorer squad, finishing with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds. His Rodman-like ferocity ignited the Explorers to fight past their fatigue and overcome the opportunity at hand. Sakhniuk again proved his maturity by finishing the game with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Amar Stukes seemed to see everything out on the floor, contributing on 10 of the Explorers baskets and creating opportunities for all of his teammates. Battling a thigh contusion, Stukes collected the Explorers second double-double of the trip finishing with 12 points and 10 assists. Roberts finished in double digits for the third consecutive game, connecting for 16 points and getting to the charity stripe 7 times.
"We beat another 1
st Division All Star team today with some of the same players as yesterday and some new ones," Giannini said. "We won another hard fought game. Amar came back and played a great game (10 assts, one turnover) and Yevgen had a strong game. Fatigue affected our shooting but defense carried us with Tony and Amar being especially good defensively. Rohan also had a great game and is taking full advantage of his opportunity."
Recaps by Andrew McGlynn, Video Coordinator
