PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle University men's basketball team used a stifling defense to hold Massachusetts to 22.5 percent shooting en route to a 60-51 win on Wednesday evening at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center. Freshman Ed Croswell played a key role in reserve, scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking five shots for the Explorers, who won their second straight Atlantic 10 contest.

"Today was the first game where we played 40 minutes of our basketball from start to finish," head coach Ashley Howard said. "Just defending, rebounding and scrapping. I'm just proud that these guys got a chance to experience a win at home."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Explorers (5-14, 3-4 A-10) shot the ball well from the three-point line in the opening half, knocking down seven of their 13 shots en route to an eight-point lead at intermission.
• Juniors Isiah Deas and Saul Phiri each connected on three trifectas and had nine points apiece to pace La Salle, who also received nine points in the opening period from sophomore David Beatty.
• With the contest tied at 11-11, nine straight points by the Explorers -- including a pair of threes from Phiri - put the home team in front, 20-11.
• The lead grew to 12 after two free throws from Croswell, before the Minutemen (8-13, 1-7 A-10) pulled to within eight right before halftime.
• In the second stanza, both teams suffered through offensive dry spells as two squads combined to shoot 25.4 percent (15-for-59) from the field and 4-for-22 (18.2 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.
• A dunk from Croswell inched the Explorers back in front by double figures at 40-30 with 15:57 remaining, but UMass responded with a 7-2 spurt to pull to within five with just under 11 minutes left.
• Graduate student Pookie Powell connected on a three in transition at the 9:15 mark, and another trey by Deas followed by a pair of free throws from junior Traci Carter put the score at 52-39 in favor of La Salle with just under five to go.
• From there, La Salle made all the defensive stops it would need to secure its first home win of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Explorers did an outstanding job on UMass' two top perimeter threats, Luwane Pipkins and Carl Pierre. The duo, who entered averaging 28.4 points per game, were limited to 11 combined points on 2-for-26 shooting (7.7%). 
• The two visiting players also shot just 1-for-14 from three-point range in 67 minutes of action.
• Phiri led La Salle with 14 points, including a 4-for-8 performance from three-point range. During Atlantic 10 play, Phiri is hitting 48.6 percent of his three-point attempts (17-for-35).
• Deas finished with 12 points, Beatty had 11 and leading scorer Pookie Powell was limited to nine points on the night.
• Croswell's five-block performance as the first five-plus block performance for a  La Salle player since Aaric Murray blocked nine shots against Morgan State on Nov. 20, 2010.
• La Salle connected on 10 of its 28 three-point attempts, marking the third straight game in which the team has hit 10 or more three-pointers.
• Rashaan Holloway led UMass with 15 points and 14 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end. 

UP NEXT

• La Salle hits the road for a matchup with Richmond on Saturday, Feb. 2. The contest is scheduled to tipoff at 6:00 p.m.
• All of the action can be seen live via ESPN+ (subscription required).