Men's Basketball | December 7, 2018

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle and Penn collide in a Big 5 men's basketball matchup at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN+, with the Voice of the Explorers Kale Beers and former men's basketball assistant coach Rich Prendergast calling the action.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers are still searching for that elusive first victory of the season after suffering a 92-79 loss to Bucknell at their home facility on Tuesday.
•Four players scored in double figures for La Salle, all of whom either matched or set new career highs with their point totals.
•Freshman Jack Clark, playing in just the second game of his collegiate career, registered a team-best 21 points on just eight field goal attempts.
•Clark went 3-for-5 from three-point range and made 10 of his 12 free-throw attempts in 32 minutes of action.
•Sophomores Miles Brookins and Jamir Moultrie each had 19 points, with Brookins setting a new career mark and Moultrie matching his prior La Salle best that was set last season vs. Duquesne.
•Brookins also added six rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots.
•Freshman Ed Croswell was the fourth player to tally double-digit points with 11 and also added 14 rebounds, 10 of which were of the offensive variety.
•Croswell became the 10th player in NCAA Division I college basketball this season to pull down 10 or more offensive rebounds and also picked up his first career double-double.
•Over his last two games, Croswell is averaging 10.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and is also adding 2.0 steals, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shots per outing.
•The Explorers went to the free throw line 35 times against the Bison, converting on 29 of them to set new season highs in both categories.
•The team also blocked five shots and tallied 13 steals to set new season bests.
•Bucknell's shooting percentage of 55.8 percent was the highest allowed by the Explorers in a game this season, and the 11 three-pointers allowed was the second most (Villanova - 12).
•For the second straight game, La Salle was without the services of leading scorer Pookie Powell (lower body) and Jared Kimbrough (lower body). Both are considered day-to-day.

SCOUTING PENN
•The Quakers are coming off an impressive non-conference win over Miami (Fla.) on Tuesday, knocking down 13 three-pointers in an 89-75 victory.
•Penn shot 59.6 percent from the field overall and was led by freshman Michael Wang, who came off the bench to hit five three-pointers and score 23 points.
•Junior AJ Brodeur had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Devon Goodman chipped in with 16 points.
•Last year's leading scorer Ryan Betley, who was a Second Team All-Ivy League selection in 2017-18, was injured in Penn's season opener and is out for the year.

SERIES HISTORY
•In a rivalry that dates back to 1934, Penn and La Salle have met 71 times with the Quakers holding a 40-31 edge in the series.
•La Salle earned a 75-71, double-overtime victory at The Palestra in last season's game.
•B.J. Johnson had 20 points and 14 rebounds, leading four players who scored in double figures for the Explorers.
•Penn won the last meeting at Tom Gola Arena, 77-74, as then-freshman AJ Brodeur went for a career high 35 points.