La Salle University Athletics

PHILADELPHIA – Freshman Anwar Gill scored a career-high 15 points and the La Salle Explorers used their trademark perimeter defense to control the Drexel Dragons for a 58-48 road win on Saturday. The Explorers held the Dragons to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field and a lowly 15.0 percent from beyond the arc.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Explorers completely shut down the Dragons in the first half, holding the Dragons to just 25 percent shooting in the opening frame.
• Both teams started slowly offensively and the Explorers capitalized off a Drexel turnover with a three-pointer from senior Scott Spencer to take a 15-6 lead midway through the first.
• Redshirt sophomore Jack Clark sparked the La Salle offense later in the half with a three and a put-back dunk to give the Explorers a commanding 18-point lead, 26-8, to cap off an 18-2 run with 5:05 to go until halftime.
• The difference remained 18 after a fast break slam by Clark made it 30-12, however, the Dragons clawed back to end the half on an 11-2 run to go into the break with the score 32-23 Explorers.
• La Salle stretched the lead to 11 early in the second half on a breakaway layup by senior David Beatty, but three straight Drexel baskets quickly made it a four-point game, 36-32, five minutes into the second frame.
• The Dragons came all the way back to make it 40-39 a few moments later on a layup by James Butler and it became a defensive battle once again with the difference remaining one midway through the second.
• After a bit of a scoring drought, a driving layup from freshman Anwar Gill and back-to-back threes from fellow rookie Jhamir Brickus finally gave the Explorers some much needed offense and a 48-41 advantage.
• Gill and Drexel's Camren Wynter exchanged layups later on to make it 50-47, where the score would remain until sophomore Ayinde Hikim made a critical steal and layup to give La Salle a five-point cushion with 2:29 remaining.
• Down the stretch, Gill delivered for the Explorers with a pair of free throws and a driving layup to solidify the road victory for La Salle.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Much like the Army game last weekend, the Explorers dominated the first half. La Salle shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the half and made 3-of-5 from downtown while holding Drexel to a lowly 1-for-9 effort from three-point land.
• After jumping out to a big lead, the Explorers cooled off in the second half as Drexel made it close, but timely shots and a defensive effort that limited the Dragons to 3-of-20 shooting from downtown sealed the win.
• Clark grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and added seven points, while Gill added a personal-best eight rebounds to his game-high 15 points. Beatty also scored in double figures with 11 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting day and Brickus contributed eight points, four assists and three steals.
• La Salle went 5-for-10 from three-point territory and held a 25-3 advantage in bench points to give head coach Ashley Howard the win over his alma mater.

UP NEXT

• The Explorers will begin Atlantic 10 Conference play on Wednesday when they host Massachusetts at Tom Gola Arena. The game will tip at 1 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+.