BRONX, N.Y. - Senior B.J. Johnson scored the 1,000th point of his La Salle career and was one of four players to reach double figures for the Explorers, who sprinted out to a big first-half lead and defeated Fordham, 73-60, in Atlantic 10 men's basketball action on Saturday.

Johnson closed with a team-high 23 points and became the 56th player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. The 6-7 forward reached the mark on a 12-foot jumper at the 13:35 mark of the second half, and now has 1,011 points in less than two seasons at La Salle.

After an even start over the first two minutes, the Explorers (12-17, 6-10 A-10) connected on back-to-back three-pointers to take an 11-5 lead with 16:55 left in the first half. Fordham (9-19, 4-11 A-10) responded with a three of its own, but La Salle would score the next seven points and 11 of the next 13 to open up a 22-10 advantage.

Five straight by the Rams narrowed the margin to seven, but an extended 16-2 run over the next six minutes pushed the visitors in front 38-17 with just over a minute remaining in the period. La Salle entered the locker room with the same 21-point lead thanks in large part to graduate student Amar Stukes.

Stukes registered 14 first-half points on 5-of-8 shooting and also added a pair of assists in 16 minutes of action. Johnson added nine points while redshirt senior Tony Washington added eight points and seven boards.

The second half saw the Explorers move the lead to as many as 25 points before the Rams made a run. Prokop Slanina scored five straight points and Will Tavares also had five in a row as Fordham pulled to within nine at 60-51 with 6:04 remaining. 

La Salle was able to withstand the charge, however, as Johnson went on a personal 8-2 run to re-up the lead to a comfortable margin.

Graduate student Amar Stukes had 14 of his 16 points in the first half while redshirt senior Tony Washington and redshirt junior Pookie Powell each added 14 for the Explorers. Tavares led Fordham with 19 points.

La Salle returns to Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center for its final home contest of the season on Wednesday, Feb. 28 against Dayton. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Senior Day ceremonies will be held prior to the game, honoring Johnson, Washington, Stukes and Johnnie Shuler.