Men's Basketball | January 13, 2017
PHILADELPHIA -Â In search of its fourth straight win, the La Salle men's basketball team returns home to take on George Washington on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and will be aired live on NBC Sports Network. Steve Schlanger and David Kaplan will have the call.
NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers have won all three games they have played in the 2017 calendar year, with the most recent victory coming on the road at Rhode Island.
•The 87-75 win handed the Rams their first home loss this season (8-1), with the 87-point offensive showing the most by an opponent at URI's home facility since 2008-09.
•Five players reached double figures for La Salle, including a career-high 22 points from junior Amar
Stukes
.
•Stukes used the free throw line to his advantage, going 13-for-14 from the charity stripe.Â
•As a team, the Explorers went 30-for-41 from the line, with the 41 attempts the most in a single game by the team since 44 tries against Penn on Jan. 21, 2009.
•Junior B.J. Johnson was efficient in his offensive performance, scoring 16 points on only eight attempts from the floor while adding seven rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.
•The Explorers used an impressive first half to jump out to a 21-point halftime lead against Rhode Island, and led by as many as 28 points in the second half.
•URI shot just 25.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, which was the best defensive performance by La Salle in a half this season.
•Junior forwards Demetrius Henry and Tony Washington combined for 19 points and 14 rebounds and helped hold preseason All-A10
performer Hassan Martin to just two points.
ALL-TIMEÂ SERIES
•The Explorers trail the all-time series but have won the last four meetings between the two schools at Gola Arena.
•Last season, the Colonials overpowered La Salle in a 90-50 victory in the nation's capital.
•Jordan Price scored 17 points in the matchup last year that saw GW outrebound the Explorers by a 43-21 margin.
•Tyler Cavanaugh led the Colonials with 22 points.
•The series began in 1951 with a La Salle victory before a 32-year break between games (1983).
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
•The Colonials enter Sunday's game with a 9-8 overall record but have dropped three of their four Atlantic 10 games.
•Most recently, GW dropped an 85-55 decision to league leader VCU on Jan. 11.
•Yuta Wantanabe scored a team-high 17 points while Jair Bolden tallied a career-high 12.
•Tyler Cavanaugh, who was a preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection, leads George Washington in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg).
•The Colonials rank second in the league in rebounding margin at +6.3 per game.
RHODY REDUX
•The Explorers took on one of the top defensive teams in the Atlantic 10 on the road at Rhode Island on Jan. 12.
•La Salle built a 21-point lead at halftime, the largest deficit that the Rams had faced at intermission this season.
•The lead grew to as many as 28 points and the Explorers finished with 87 points, the most by an opponent at URI's home venue since La Salle scored 88 in an overtime loss in 2009.
FIRST HALF FIRE
•In the first half on Jan. 12 against URI, the Explorers put together their best statistical half on both ends of the court.
•La Salle shot 65.0% from the field, their highest percentage in a half this season.
•On the other end, the Rams were held to 25.9% shooting, the lowest percentage an opponent has shot in a half in 2016-17.
•The Explorers held a 17-7 advantage in free-throw attempts and an 18-11 rebounding margin.
CHARITABLE CAUSE
•The Explorers have been impressive from the free-throw line all season and have done an extremely impressive job over the last two games.
•La Salle missed just one free throw in 25 attempts against Duquesne on Jan. 7, good for a 96.0 percentage for the game.
•The game was just the fifth this season in NCAA Division I basketball in which a team had attempted 25 or more free throws and shot 95% or better.
•Against Rhode Island, the Explorers attempted 41 free throws, their most in a single game since Jan. 21, 2009 (vs. Penn; 44).
•On the year, the Explorers are shooting 75.9 percent from the line to rank 21st in the nation.
