Men's Basketball | December 26, 2019

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's basketball team (8-3) returns from a week-long break to host Bucknell (4-8) at The Palestra on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., with all of the action available on ESPN+ (subscription required). An audio broadcast featuring play-by-play commentator Kale Beers can be accessed via the Tune In Radio App and Stretch Internet Radio.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers will look to continue their red-hot play of late and close the month of December on a high note.
•After dropping two of its first three games, La Salle has won four straight and seven of eight, with the lone loss coming to nationally-ranked Villanova.
•Sophomore Ed Croswell matched a career high with 18 points and grabbed 15 boards in La Salle's 66-58 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 21.
•Croswell's rebound total was one shy of his career mark, set twice last season.
•Freshman Christian Ray also performed well, scoring 15 points on an efficient 5-for-7 from the field and grabbing four rebounds.
•The Explorers overcame a rare cold shooting night from three-point range, as they connected on just two of their 19 attempts.
•La Salle has been going to the free-throw line at a much higher rate of late, averaging 28.7 attempts from the charity stripe over the last three games compared to 16.3 over the first eight.

SCOUTING BUCKNELL
•The Bison won 21 games a season ago and advanced to the finals of the Patriot League Tournament before falling to Colgate.
•This year, Bucknell is 4-8 and has dropped four of its last five contests.
•Five different players average double figures in scoring, led by Jimmy Sotos (13.3 ppg) and Avi Toomer (13.0 ppg).
•Similar to La Salle, the Bison have nine players averaging at least 10 minutes a game and 11 have played in at least nine of the 12 games this year.

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. BUCKNELL
•La Salle and Bucknell meet for the fourth straight season on Sunday, with the Bison winning two of the last three games in the series.
•The Explorers hold the lead in the all-time series, 19-6.
•Last year, Nate Sestina (who is now playing for Kentucky as a graduate transfer), scored 24 points in a 92-79 win for Bucknell.
•Jack Clark had 21 points for the Explorers, who also received a double-double from Ed Croswell (10 points, 14 rebounds).

CROSWELL CONTINUES TO BOARD
•Freshman Ed Croswell ranked as one of the top rebounders in the Atlantic 10 last season and is trending in that direction again in 2019-20.
•Most recently, Croswell matched a career high with 18 points and had 15 rebounds to lead the Explorers to a win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
•Croswell led the entire nation in offensive rebounding rate (18.1%) last year, with the next closest player (Jabari McGhee of Austin Peay) at 16.8%.
•This season, after a relatively slow start, Croswell ranks 10th nationally at 17.1% and is leading the team rebounding at (8.0 rpg).

A RAY OF LIGHT
•La Salle freshman Christian Ray has provided a spark off the bench in each of the team's last two wins at Gola Arena.
•Ray grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in a victory over Wagner on Dec. 18, then followed that up with 15 points as the Explorers extended their win streak to four by topping Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 21.
•Over the last three games, the 6-6 guard has averaged 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and a near-perfect 10-for-11 from the free-throw line.