PHILADELPHIA - Senior B.J. Johnson scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the opening half as the La Salle University men's basketball team built a 20-point lead at intermission and never trailed in a 81-73 victory over South Alabama on Thursday evening at the Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.

Johnson added 11 rebounds to tally his third straight double-double to begin the season, while sophomore Saul Phiri also registered double figures in points (14) and rebounds (10) as the Explorers moved to 3-0 on the year.

Defense was the catalyst for La Salle early, as South Alabama missed its first five shots and turned the ball over four times during a 10-0 run by the Explorers to start the game. Johnson scored five of the points in that spurt, and hit two free throws to push the margin to 20-8 at the 11:24 mark of the opening half.

Five more from Johnson kickstarted a 12-0 run that boosted the La Salle advantage to 34-13 at the 6:00 mark. The Jaguars drew to within 14 following a three from Herb McGee, but the Explorers responded with a push to end the half and a putback bucket from Phiri right before the buzzer gave the home squad a 47-27 lead.

A three-pointer from redshirt junior Pookie Powell gave the Explorers their largest advantage of the game to start the second half, and La Salle led by 21 midway through the period before USA mounted a comeback attempt. Thirteen consecutive points, which featured a trio of three-pointers by three different Jaguars, brought the visitors to within 65-58 with 7:35 left.

Johnson stopped the drought for the Explorers by converting on a putback hoop, and Deas hit a big corner three-pointer to move La Salle in front by a 72-63 margin. The Jaguars continued to claw their way back, with a free throw from McGee cutting the La Salle lead to just five with 2:19 remaining. But Johnson sent home a cutting dunk off a backdoor feed from senior Amar Stukes, before Stukes connected on a three-pointer that effectively put the game out of reach with just over a minute left.

La Salle outrebounded South Alabama, 38-30, marking the third consecutive game that the Explorers have accomplished the feat. In addition to Johnson and Phiri, Deas and Powell finished in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Jordan Andrews led a quartet of Jags in double figures with 20 points, 18 of which came after halftime.

The Explorers head to Connecticut for the Naismith Bracket of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament on Nov. 18-19. La Salle opens the two-day event by taking on No. 20 Northwestern at Mohegan Sun Arena. Tipoff for the game, which will air digitally on ESPN3, is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.