Men's Basketball | January 4, 2016

BRONX, N.Y. – The La Salle men's basketball team hits the road for the first time in conference play as it heads to Fordham on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip. The Rams are coached by 1993 La Salle graduate Jeff Neubauer, who played four seasons under Speedy Morris and helped the Explorers to three postseason appearances. 

La Salle Explorers (4-7, 0-1 A-10) at Fordham Rams (9-3, 0-1 A-10)
Wednesday, January 6 | 7 PM | Bronx, N.Y.

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Game Notes
La Salle | Fordham

Last Time Out
La Salle's comeback fell short in a 74-67 win for Massachusetts on Sunday at Tom Gola Arena in the A-10 opener for both teams. Redshirt junior Jordan Price had a game-high 23 points for the Explorers, while redshirt sophomore Tony Washington recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt junior Cleon Roberts added 11 points while Johnnie Shuler had eight points and a career-high six assists. Sophomore Amar Stukes added eight points and four assists .The Explorers played with seven scholarship players available, as Rohan Brown (knee injury) and Yevgen Sakhniuk (sickness) missed their second straight game.

All-Time Series
This will be the 50^th all-time meeting between the two programs. La Salle holds the edge with a 35-14 record against Fordham. The Explorers have a 7-2 edge in the last nine meetings between the two. The pair have met 21 previous times at Rose Hill Gymnasium in the Bronx with La Salle holding the narrow 11-10 advantage in those games.

Scouting the Explorers
• Jordan Price is currently 12th in the nation in scoring at 22.8 points per game. He is second in the Atlantic 10 behind Jack Gibbs of Davidson (24.0).

• Price needs only 36 points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. He scored 145 points at Auburn and has 819 as an Explorer.

• Johnnie Shuler leads the A-10 and is 6th nationally in minutes per game (37.5). La Salle has three players in the top nine in minutes per game in the A-10 (Shuler, Roberts, Price).

•Tony Washington is second in the A-10 and 32nd nationally in blocks per game (2.5).

• Jordan Price's 22.8 ppg. is the highest scoring average by an Explorer since Donnie Carr averaged 23.9 ppg. in 1996-97.

La Salle-Fordham Connections
Fordham head coach Jeff Neubauer is a 1993 graduate of La Salle. Neubauer played point guard for the Explorers under Speedy Morris and helped the team accumulate an 83-36 during his four year career. During his freshman campaign he helped the Explorers reach the NCAA Tournament with a 30-2 record and served as a team captain and honorable mention GTE All-Academic selection as a senior.

Rams assistant coach Tony Chiles was an assistant coach at Drexel from 2004 through the 2009-10 season. The Explorers beat Chiles Dragons, 62-50 at The Palestra in 2005.
 
Fordham freshman David Pekárek and La Salle sophomore Yevgen Sakhniuk were teammates at GBA Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic.
 
La Salle sophomore Johnnie Shuler and Rams freshman Brenton Petty attended Washington DCIAA rivals Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson respectively which are located just over three miles apart.

Scouting the Rams
• Fordham had a nine-game winning streak to close out its non-conference schedule. This was the longest winning streak for the program since the 1990-91 season.   

• Mandell Thomas scored 13 points in a loss to George Washington to open up conference play for the Rams. Thomas sits 16^th in school history with 1,255 career points.

• Ryan Rhoomes finished one rebound shy of a double-double against the Colonials with 12 points and nine rebounds. Rhoomes has 727 career rebounds which is the 11^th most in program history. Rhoomes also has the best field-goal percentage in the conference and the fifth best in the country as he is shooting 68% on the season.

• The Rams lead the conference in assists per game with 17.5 which is also 24^th best in the country. Joseph Chartouny leads the way averaging 5.2 per contest which leads the A-10.  

• Fordham has forced on average 10.2 steals per contest which is fifth best nationally and second in the conference. The rams are led by Chartouny who averages 2.45 per contest and Thomas adds 2.25 per game of his own.
 
Up Next
The Explorers return home as they host #25 Dayton on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena with the tip slated for 2 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting www.goexplorers.com/buytickets. There is a pre-game reception sponsored by the Alumni Association beginning at 12:30 PM. Cost is $25 per person.