PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle University men's basketball team jumped out to a big first-half lead and survived a furious comeback attempt by Iona to secure a 70-64, overtime victory in front of a big Homecoming crowd at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center on Saturday. Junior David Beatty led a trio in double figures for the Explorers with 15 points, while sophomore Ed Croswell and freshman Brandon Stone each added 12.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A jumper in the paint by Beatty three minutes into the first half jumpstarted a pivotal 22-2 run over a 7:52 span.
• Freshman Brandon Stone had a putback bucket and knocked down a three-pointer over the stretch that flipped an 8-5 deficit into a 27-10 lead.
• The advantage grew to 21 following back-to-back three-pointers by Stone and senior Saul Phiri near the end of the first half, before a trifecta from Iona's Isaiah Ross capped the scoring in the stanza and put the score at 41-23.
• The Gaels, who won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship last season and returned four starters from that team, came out aggressive in the second half and cut their deficit to 10 less than three minutes into the period.
• Following a jumper by Stone, Iona scored eight straight points, including five from E.J. Crawford, to pull within four at 45-41 with 14:27 on the clock. 
• Beatty made a three-pointer and hit a free throw to stem the tide, and La Salle led by a multiple-possession margin for the next 12 minutes.
• The Explorers grew their advantage to 10 after a layup by Croswell with 3:06 to go, but Iona remained undeterred and drew to within five with just 1:07 left after Ross hit another triple.
• A turnover by La Salle and a dunk by Iona put the margin at three with 27 seconds remaining, before the Gaels were forced to foul.
• The Explorers missed the front end of a one-and-one, leading to a game-tying three-pointer by Isaiah Washington with seven ticks on the clock. La Salle did not get a shot off before time expired as the game moved to overtime.
• Defense was the name of the game in the extra period, with Beatty accounting for the lone field goal by either team.
• Iona was held to 0-for-8 from the field as the Explorers used a smothering defense to secure the victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• La Salle held Iona to just 30.0 percent from the field and to just 64 points over 45 minutes of action, well below the 76.7 points per game the team averaged last year.
• The Explorers assisted on 20 of their 26 made field goals, with eight different players dishing out at least one assist.
• Junior Scott Spencer narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, and also added four assists and three steals in an all-around game.
• Beatty was one shy of Spencer for the team high in rebounds with eight, and had three assists against zero turnovers in 36 minutes of action.
• For the game, La Salle held a 22-12 edge in bench scoring thanks in large part to Stone. Sophomore Jared Kimbrough chipped in with six points on 3-of-5 shooting.
• Iona was led by 21 points and nine rebounds from Agee, while Crawford added 17 points and seven boards.

UP NEXT

• La Salle (1-0) will take the short trip to The Palestra to take on Penn in a Big 5 matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
• Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., with the game scheduled to be aired live on ESPN+