Men's Basketball | January 17, 2019

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle University men's basketball team rounds out a three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against Atlantic 10 rival Rhode Island at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center. The nationally-televised game, set to air on NBC Sports Network, will tipoff at 2:30 p.m. A halftime ceremony is scheduled to honor the La Salle Hall of Athletes Class of 2019: Ryan Fennelly '05 (Track & Field), Kelly Greenberg '89 (Women's Basketball/Field Hockey/Softball) and the 1968-69 men's basketball team. The first 300 students in attendance will receive a Lionel Simmons 'shirtsey', courtesy of the La Salle Department of Athletics.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers were narrowly edged by George Washington, 59-56, on Wednesday evening, in what could best be described as a tale of two halves.
•In the first 20 minutes of action, La Salle used a stifling defense to hold the Colonials to just 4-for-25 from the field (16.0%) and 14 points.
•It marked the first time the Explorers had held an opponent to under 20 points in a half since last season's matchup with No. 11 Miami in which the Hurricanes scored 19 points in the opening half.
•La Salle held a nine-point lead at intermission but could not hang on as GW clipped the nets to the tune of 67.9 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes of play.
•Freshman Jared Kimbrough had eight points, including a three-point play with 1:35 to play that briefly gave the Explorers a 56-55 lead.
•George Washington's Armel Potter converted on a driving layup 25 seconds later to give the visitors the lead for good, despite two different opportunities for the Explorers to tie or take the lead down the stretch.
•Junior Isiah Deas had a team-high 11 points and was the only player in double figures for La Salle, who closed the game shooting 5-for-32 from three-point range (15.6%).
•Kimbrough also added nine rebounds and two blocked shots, setting new personal bests in both categories.
•Graduate student Pookie Powell was held to eight points in 24 minutes of play, marking just the eighth time in his La Salle career that he failed to score 10 or more points. 
•La Salle forced the Colonials into 18 turnovers which directly led to 18 points.
•The Explorers also had 12 steals in the game, one off a season high set against Bucknell. La Salle has registered 10 or more steals in six games this season and ranks second in the A-10 at 8.4 per game.

SCOUTING RHODE ISLAND
•The Rams stand at 9-7 overall and are 2-2 in Atlantic 10 play following a 75-63 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night.
•URI won last season's A-10 regular season championship with a 15-3 mark in league play and earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
•The team is under the direction of first-year head coach David Cox, who was an assistant under former head coach Dan Hurley for four seasons.
•Jeff Dowtin leads the team in scoring at 16.4 points per game.