Men's Basketball | February 26, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team welcomes George Mason to Tom Gola Arena on Saturday with tip slated for 2 p.m.
 
La Salle Explorers (6-20, 2-13 A-10) vs George Mason Patriots (10-18, 4-11 A-10)
Saturday, February 27 | 2 PM | Tom Gola Arena

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Game Notes
La Salle | George Mason

Last Time Out
La Salle dropped a narrow 56-53 decision to Fordham on Wednesday evening at Tom Gola Arena. Juniors Jordan Price and Cleon Roberts both finished with 13 points while Amar Stukes had six assists, three steals and nine points on the evening.  

Series Record
This is just the third all-time meeting between the two programs. George Mason has come out ahead in both of the previous meetings. The Patriots only previous trip to Gola Arena was on senior day of the 2013-14 season as they grabbed a 59-57 win over the Explorers. La Salle had the ball at the end of regulation but a Tyreek Duren three at the buzzer rattled out to give Mason the win.

La Salle-George Mason Connections
George Mason freshman Jaire Grayer's father Jeffrey Grayer played 10 years in the NBA including the 1996-97 season with the Sacramento Kings where he was teammates with Explorers legend Lionel Simmons.

Senior Marko Gujanicic grew up in Cacak, Serbia which is three hours south of Novi Sad which is  Dusan Majstorovic's hometown.

Mason head coach Dave Paulsen who is in his first season with the Patriots has faced La Salle five previous times during his stint as Bucknell head coach. The Explorers have a 3-2 record against Paulsen including a 3-1 record at Gola Arena.

Scouting the Explorers
• La Salle will be wearing gold laces for "Go 4 The Goal" to support pediatric cancer.

•Jordan Price has 486 points this season and needs just 14 to reach 500 on the season. It would mark the 57^th time an Explorer has reached 500 points in a season and Price would become just the 18^th person to have multiple 500+ seasons after scoring 568 a season ago.

• Jordan Price and Johnnie Shuler rank among the nation's most consistent three-point shooters. Shuler has made a three in 31 straight games and Price in 30 straight, which ranks them ninth and 11th in the nation, respectively. 

• Jordan Price leads the A-10 and is ranked 10th nationally in minutes per game (37.4).  He has played all 40 minutes 11 times this season. La Salle has three players in the top 25 nationally in minutes per game in the nation (Shuler, Roberts, Price).

• Jordan Price leads the Big 5 in scoring and is third in the Atlantic 10 (18.7 ppg.).

• Cleon Roberts is fourth in the A-10 in steals per game (1.96 spg)

Scouting the Patriots
• George Mason knocked off VCU who was top in the A-10 standings prior to the game. The Patriots grabbed a 76-69 win over the Rams to knock VCU into a tie for the top spot in the league. Mason shot 50.0 percent from the field against VCU with four Patriots posting double-figures in the win.

•Jalen Jenkins has scored 71 points over the last five games for the Patriots, averaging 14.2 ppg., while pulling down 38 rebounds. He has shot 58.7 percent from the field while adding seven assists and five blocks.

• Senior Shevon Thompson has recorded double-doubles in five of the past seven games. He has 10 double-doubles on the season.

• Freshmen Jaire Grayer, DeAndre Abram and Otis Livingston II have earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors a total of six time this season between the group.

• Mason leads the A-10 in rebounding margin on the season pulling down 6.7 more rebounds per contest than their opponents. They also lead the way in offensive rebounds, averaging 12.6 per contest.  

Up Next
La Salle closes out its home schedule as it welcomes Saint Louis to Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will serve as senior day as the program will honor its two seniors, Rohan Brown and O.J. Lewis, in a pre-game ceremony.