Men's Basketball | January 7, 2019

RICHMOND, Va. - The La Salle University men's basketball team will look for its fourth straight victory on Wednesday evening as it travels to Richmond, Va. to take on VCU. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m., with action available live through ESPN+. An audio broadcast with the Voice of the Explorers Kale Beers will air on the Tune In Radio App and Stretch Internet.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers and Rams each won their Atlantic 10 openers this past weekend, both of which came on the road.
•La Salle posted a 69-60 victory at Masschusetts while VCU dominated Fordham, 76-51, in a contest held in New York.
•Junior Saul Phiri had a standout game for La Salle, registering a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds and a career-best four steals.
•Phiri was two points shy of his career high, set last season against St. Bonaventure, and also set the tone for the team's tremendous defensive effort.
•UMass entered the game on Saturday averaging a league-high 79.2 points, nearly four points better than second-place Dayton (75.5 ppg).
•The Explorers held the Minutemen to 36.5 percent shooting and nearly 20 points less than their season average (60).
•Phiri played a key role, matching up with UMass guard Luwane Pipkins for much of the game.
•Pipkins began the game ranked second in the A-10 in scoring at 19.9 points per contest, but scored just 15 points on 3-of-16 shooting against the Explorers.
•Graduate student Pookie Powell closed with 17 points, all of which came in the second half, and scored the 1,000th point of his La Salle career early in the second stanza.
•La Salle went 18-for-21 (85.7%) from the free-throw line, marking the seventh time this season the team has shot 80 percent or better from the charity stripe.
•The team also pilfered 11 steals in the game, the fourth time the Explorers have registered double digit steals.

SCOUTING VCU
•The Rams hold a 10-4 overall record and posted a convincing road win over Fordham in their Atlantic 10 opener on Saturday.
•VCU shot an impressive 66.7 percent from the field against the Rams, and 79.3 percent from two-point range.
•Marcus Evans went 6-for-6 from the floor and led three players in double figures with 17 points.
•Marcus Santos-Silva and Sean Mobley had 13 and 12 points, respectively.
•Evans is the top scorer on the team for the season at 13.4 ppg, while Isaac Vann (11.4 ppg) and De'Riante Jenkins (11.1 ppg) also pose offensive threats.

BETTER CALL SAUL
•Junior swingman Saul Phiri sat out the first semester for La Salle, but has been a key asset for the Explorers since returning for the Boardwalk Battle.
•La Salle is 3-0 with Phiri in the lineup, including Saturday's 69-60 win over UMass in the A-10 opener.
•Phiri posted 20 points on just seven field-goal attempts, and went 4-for-5 from three-point range.
•The Haverhill, Mass. native tied for the team lead in rebounds with six, marking the sixth time in his career he has accomplished the feat. The Explorers are 6-0 in those games.
•He hit for 13 points and connected on a trio of three-pointers in the victory over Alabama A&M in Atlantic City, then had nine points, six rebounds and three assists in the win against Towson.
•Last season, Phiri played in 32 games (27 starts), averaging 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game.