Men's Basketball | November 25, 2020

QUEENS, N.Y. - The La Salle men's basketball team is scheduled to begin its 2020-21 season on Thanksgiving Day against BIG EAST member St. John's. The game will be the second of three contests set to be played at the 2020 Lapchick Tournament, named after the former coach who led the Red Storm to consecutive NIT titles in 1943 and 1944.

The game on Thursday will air live nationally on FS1, beginning at 2:00 p.m. Check local listings for availability. An audio broadcast will be available to fans through Stretch Internet. Those that want to watch the game over the internet will be able to do so through Fox Sports Go (subscription required).

Friday's neutral-site game with Saint Peter's, scheduled for 4:00 p.m., will be available to fans through an interactive Zoom broadcast that will feature play-by-play commentator Kale Beers as moderator/commentator. Click here to register for the event. 

NEWS & NOTES
•This marks the second time in three seasons that the Explorers have played on Turkey Day, with the prior game coming at the Wooden Legacy event in 2018 vs. Miami (Fla.).
•The game is the first of two for La Salle in New York, with the second coming on Friday afternoon against Saint Peter's.
•November 26 is the latest date La Salle has opened a season since the 1996-97 campaign (Nov. 29).
•A pair of seniors return to lead the Explorers this season, guards David Beatty and Scott Spencer.
•Beatty led La Salle in scoring a year ago, averaging 10.7 points per game and scoring in double figures 20 times.
•Spencer led the Atlantic 10 in three-point field goal percentage (.438), and connected on multiple trifectas in 18 games.
•The Explorers return 10 letterwinners, and welcome four newcomers plus a transfer - Clifton Moore (Indiana) - who sat out last season.

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
•The Red Storm begin the year against Saint Peter's a day before the game against the Explorers.
•Last season, St. John's went 17-15 in its first under the direction of head coach Mike Anderson.
•Rasheem Dunn, a graduate student, is the team's top returning scorer at 11.9 points per game.
•Julian Champagnie was named to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team a season ago after averaging 9.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES - ST. JOHN'S (SERIES TIED 3-3)
•This will be the seventh all-time meeting between La Salle and St. John's.
•It will be the first meeting between the Explorers and Red Storm since 1964, a 78-71 win for St. John's at Madison Square Garden.
•That game was part of the ECAC Holiday Festival Tournament, and the Red Storm would go on to win the NIT that season. 
•The two squads first met in 1936 in a low-scoring Red Storm win.
•La Salle topped St. John's twice at MSG during its 1952 NIT Championship season, once in the NIT and once during the U.S. Olympic Trials.
•The two met at MSG again in the 1953 NIT, with St. John's prevailing 75-74.

90th SEASON OF LA SALLE BASKETBALL BEGINS
•In what figures to be a season unlike any other, the storied program of La Salle men's basketball ushers in its 90th season.
•Last year saw the Explorers finish at .500 or better for the 63rd time.
•Over the 90-year history of La Salle's basketball program, the Explorers have boasted 24 NBA players including B.J. Johnson, who was a member of the Orlando Magic to close this past season.

BEATTY ELEVATES GAME
•La Salle senior captain David Beatty looks to make another jump in his game after progressing nicely from his sophomore to junior season.
•The 6-2 guard improved his scoring average from 7.7 ppg in 2018-19 to 10.7 ppg a year ago.
•The Philadelphia native also saw his shooting percentage go up from 36.4% to 41.5%, and his three-point shooting jump up from 29.5% to 33.3%.
•Beatty also proved himself to be one of the top perimeter defenders on the team, pilfering 34 steals to rank second on the squad.

FROM WAY DOWN TOWN
•Senior Scott Spencer proved to be one of the top three-point shooters in the Atlantic 10 last year.
•In his first season as an Explorers, the 6-6 guard knocked down 43.8 percent of his attempts from deep -- tied for the top mark in the league.
•Spencer hit multiple three-pointers in 18 games, including four against both Rhode Island and Richmond.
•The Richmond, Va. product showed his worth on the defensive end as well, tallying 28 steals to rank among the team leaders.

MOORE READY FOR ACTION
•Redshirt junior Clifton Moore will see his first action as a La Salle Explorer on Thursday afternoon.
•A former Top 100 recruit out of Hatboro-Horsham in nearby Ambler, Pa., Moore spent two seasons at Indiana before transferring back home prior to the 2019-20 season.
•A versatile big man who has the ability to step out and stretch the defense, Moore played in 24 games while a Hoosier.

JACK'S BACK
•After a nine-game spurt during the 2018-19 season that had La Salle fans excited to see more, redshirt sophomore Jack Clark returns healthy and ready for action in 2020-21.
•Clark missed the first seven games of his freshman campaign due to an injury suffered during his senior year in high school.
•In his first collegiate game against defending national champion Villanova at The Palestra, the 6-8 sharpshooter knocked down three triples for nine points in 27 minutes of action.
•The following game, Clark went for 21 points against Bucknell.
•Unfortunately for the Explorers, the Cheltenham, Pa. native injured the same knee he had as a senior in high school in mid-January and was forced to miss the remainder of the 2018-19 season and all of last year. 

THUNDER & LIGHTNING -- HOOPS VERSION
•La Salle's own version of Thunder & Lightning is comprised of sophomores Sherif Kenney and Ayinde Hikim.
•The duo split point-guard duties for much of the 2019-20 season and are primed to make an impact this year.
•Hikim, the ultra-quick 5-11 guard who is a pest defensively, led the team in assists with 98 and ranked third in steals with 31.
•The Washington, D.C. native finished the season with a 15-point outburst against Saint Joseph's, and had a career-high 17 at Saint Louis against A-10 All-Rookie Team selection Yuri Collins.
•Kenney utilizes his 6-4 frame to get into the paint and finish, and scored in double figures nine times a year ago.
•Another product from the Nation's Capital, Kenney had a pair of 15-point performances to key the Explorers to victories over South Alabama and Murray State at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
•He also had 19 points at Richmond and 14 on 5-of-9 shooting in a win over St. Bonaventure.

D IS KEY FOR EXPLORERS
•La Salle has built a reputation as being a stingy defensive team under head coach Ashley Howard.
•Last year, the Explorers held opponents to just 30.0 percent from three-point range to rank 30th amongst all NCAA teams.
•Additionally, the team's 11.4% steal percentage ranked 29th in the country.
•The 70-point plateau was a key indicator of success for La Salle in 2019-20 -- if the Explorers held an opponent to under 70 points, they were 12-1.

BENCH MOB
•The Explorers closed last year ranked 17th in the country, according to KenPom.com, in bench minutes per contest.
•La Salle's reserves averaged 39.5 percent of the minutes played per contest, which is well above the NCAA average of 30.3 percent.
•The valuable experience gained last year, particularly by the four-member sophomore class of Christian Ray, Ayinde Hikim, Sherif Kenney, and Brandon Stone, has prepared the group to take on a larger role in 2020-21.