Men's Basketball | January 31, 2019

RICHMOND, Va. - The La Salle University men's basketball team goes for its third straight Atlantic 10 win on Saturday evening as it heads south to take on Richmond. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPN+. An audio broadcast, featuring the Voice of the Explorers Kale Beers and former assistant coach Rich Prendergast, is available to fans via the Tune In Radio App or Stretch Internet.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers used a scintillating defensive effort to defeat Massachusetts on Wednesday, holding the Minutemen to 22.5 percent shooting in a 60-51 win.
•It marked the first time a La Salle team has held an opponent under 30 percent shooting since the Explorers limited Quinnipiac to 28.6 percent from the field on Nov. 18, 2014 (L, 60-58).
•La Salle was led offensively by a trio of players in double figures - junior Saul Phiri (14), classmate Isiah Deas (12) and sophomore David Beatty (11).
•Freshman Ed Croswell came off the bench to provide a spark, scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and posting a career-high five blocked shots.
•The individual blocked shot total marked the first time a La Salle player had blocked five or more shots in a game since Aaric Murray registered nine against Morgan State on Nov. 20, 2010.
•La Salle also blocked 10 shots as a team, the first time that had happened since Jan. 7, 2010 (10 vs. Xavier).
•Three-point shooting was also a key factor in the contest, with La Salle hitting 10 three-pointers as compared to UMass' four.
•The Explorers have connected on 10 or more three-point field goals in three consecutive games and are leading the Atlantic 10 in three-point percentage (36.5%) during league play.
•Another key to the victory over the Minutemen was the ability of La Salle's top perimeter defenders to control the guard play of UMass.
•Top scorers Luwane Pipkins (17.5 ppg) and Carl Pierre (10.1 ppg) were held to a combined 11 points on 2-for-26 from the field and 1-for-14 from three-point range.
•Pipkins, in particular, struggled in his two games against the Explorers this season. After averaging 28.0 points per game over three games against La Salle last year, the preseason All-A-10 performer went 4-for-30 (13.3%) and averaged a paltry 12.0 points per game in two losses.

SCOUTING RICHMOND
•The Spiders picked up an impressive 84-81 win at Saint Louis on Wednesday evening to improve their record to 8-13 overall and 2-6 in A-10 play.
•Jacob Gilyard had a team-high 24 points to lead three Richmond players that score 20+ points in the game.
•Grant Golden tallied 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Nathan Cayo chipped in with 21 points.

BREAKING THE ICE
•La Salle played Wednesday's game against UMass with temperatures outside Tom Gola Arena hovering around zero.
•Inside, the two teams were nearly as cold offensively -- especially in the second half, when the Explorers and Minutemen combined to shoot 15-for-59 (25.4%) from the floor.
•In the end, La Salle used a strong defensive performance to come away with a 60-51 win, breaking a string of eight straight home losses to start the season.

FINDING THE DISTANCE
•During Atlantic 10 play, La Salle has shown its ability to hit the three-point shot at a high percentage.
•In fact, the Explorers lead the league in three-point field goal percentage through the first month of the conference season at 36.5%.
•Junior Saul Phiri has knocked down 48.6% of his three-point attempts through seven A-10 games to rank first in the league, while sophomore David Beatty is in seventh at 40.9%.
•La Salle has knocked down 10 or more three-pointers in each of its last three games (34-for-76, 44.7%).