Men's Basketball | November 15, 2017

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle looks to open the 2017-18 season with a third consecutive win as it plays host to South Alabama on Thursday evening at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.

The game is part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, which will culminate in Uncasville, Conn. on Nov. 18-19.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., with all of the action available on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network. 

Free barbecue, courtesy of Famous Dave's BBQ, will be available to all patrons with a ticket for the game, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers will travel to Connecticut following this game to take part in the Naismith Bracket of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena. Northwestern, Texas Tech and Boston College are the other schools involved in the four-team, two-day event.
•South Alabama will play in the Springfield Bracket at the same arena with Sacred Heart, Maine and La Salle's opening-day opponent, Saint Peter's.
•La Salle is coming off an exhilarating win over Penn at the Palestra on Monday evening.
•The first Big 5 game of the season saw the Explorers and Quakers battle for 50 full minutes, marking the first game between the two schools that advanced to double overtime.
•Senior B.J. Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to register his second straight double-double to start the season.
•Johnson did foul out early in the second overtime, as did senior center Tony Washington.
•The Explorers were elevated in the second extra period by graduate student Amar Stukes, who scored eight of his 12 points during that five-minute session.
•Redshirt junior Pookie Powell also played a big part down the stretch, hitting a tough jumper in the lane to extend the lead to 68-65 with less than a minute to go.
•For the second straight game, the Explorers held an opponent to below 35 percent from the field. Penn shot just 33.8 percent from the field, including 25.0 percent from three-point range.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
•The Jaguars split their first two games of the year, dropping the season opener to Texas Tech, 75-50, before downing NAIA opponent Mobile, 71-49, on Monday.
•Sophomore Josh Ajayi registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, while classmate Jordan Andrews led the squad in scoring with 18 points.
•South Alabama went 14-18 last season, including a 7-11 mark in the Sun Belt.
•The matchup is the first between La Salle and South Alabama in history.
•The Explorers have faced just three current Sun Belt schools a total of three times in history, going 2-1 in those games (Wins vs. & Arkansas Ltle-Rock (1987) & Georgia Southern (1989); Loss vs. Appalachian State (2003)).

BIG 5 THRILLER
•In a game that did not lack in drama, La Salle and Penn slugged it out for 50 minutes on Monday at the Palestra.
•The Explorers used a strong defensive performance that limited the Quakers to just 33.8 percent shooting to take home a 75-71, double-overtime win.
•La Salle also outrebounded the Quakers by an impressive 53-40 margin.
•The double-overtime game was the first for the Explorers at the Palestra since Dec. 4, 2011, when Oklahoma State earned a 92-87 win.
•It was the first Big 5 game for La Salle that has gone two extra periods since a 98-95 win over Saint Joseph's at the Spectrum on Jan. 23, 1999.