by Chuck Booth '17

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's basketball team put up a determined effort at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday night but ultimately fell to Rhode Island, 79-62. 
 
The Explorers were led by Johnnie Shuler and Cleon Roberts with 15 points each. Jordan Price [14 points, three assists] and Amar Stukes [12 points, three assists] also reached double-figures. Price is now 17 points from reaching 1,000 points scored for La Salle.

Jarvis Garrett from URI [13-10, 5-5 A-10] led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. Playing with a mask on, he shot 11-19 from the field including 3-6 from three.Jared Terrell added 22 points while Nicola Akele had 15. 

"Rhode Island really played well, and they are banged up," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "For Garrett to play the way he did with that mask on with limited practice is astounding to me, just astounding. Some of our guys did not play anywhere near their best. But again, Amar is really getting some more confidence and I just like Cleon's consistent effort."

The Explorers opened the game on a 10-2 run thanks to two three's from Stukes. The first half alone featured five ties and 10 lead changes as neither team could take control of the contest. 
 
La Salle ended the first half in a 29-29 deadlock but Rhode Island went on a 17-2 run to start the second half and never looked back thanks to the combination of Terrell and Garrett. It was a chippy end to the game with both teams trading shots but URI took whatever punches La Salle threw.
 
"I do look for positives, there are positives and I do think we'll be a much  better team next year. Just because we will have help. We won't be inexperienced and we won't be as small and we'll have more guys in their right roles. But, that's a long way off right now," Giannini said.
 
Up next for La Salle [5-16, 1-9 A-10] is an away game at Davidson Wednesday, February 10 at 7 PM.