Men's Basketball | December 28, 2020

DAYTON, Ohio - The La Salle men's basketball team closes out the calendar year with a trip to Ohio and a matchup with reigning Atlantic 10 regular-season champion Dayton on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m., with the game available for viewers on ESPN+. An audio broadcast of the game is also an option for fans, with Kale Beers calling all the action on Stretch Internet and the TuneIn Radio App.

NEWS & NOTES
•La Salle is coming off an 84-71 loss to Maryland, the team's final scheduled non-conference contest of the 2020-21 season, on Dec. 22.
•Sophomore Sherif Kenney led four players in double figures with 16 points, his second straight game with that scoring total.
•Kenney matched a career-high with four three-pointers, while the Explorers as a team knocked down a season-best 14.
•Junior Clifton Moore, redshirt sophomore Jack Clark, and freshman Anwar Gill joined Kenney in double figures with 12 points apiece.
•Freshman Jhamir Brickus tallied a team-high eight assists in the outing, the second time this season he has dished out eight in a game.
•Moore's 12 points set a new career high, with the 6-10 forward/center knocking down all three of his attempts from three-point range.
•La Salle struggled with Maryland's size, as the Terrapins outscored the Explorers, 44-14, in the paint.

SCOUTING DAYTON
•The Flyers enter the game on Wednesday with a 4-1 record, having earned a three-point win over Mississippi in their last outing on Dec. 19.
•Senior guard Ibi Watson is pacing Dayton in scoring, averaging 18.0 points per game while connecting on 48.1 percent of his three-point attempts.
•Not far behind Watson is senior Jalen Crutcher, who is totaling 17.3 points per contest while also leading the Flyers in assists at 5.8 apg.
•Dayton is the most efficient offensive unit in the Atlantic 10, shooting 51.0 percent from the floor. 
•With a 57.6% effective field-goal percentage, the Flyers rank 15th in the country in the category.

ALL-TIME SERIES vs. DAYTON (DAYTON LEADS 30-17)
•Dayton holds a 30-17 lead in the all-time series between the two schools, with the Flyers winning the last 14 meetings held at UD Arena.
•The last time La Salle won at Dayton was February 27, 1999, an 88-74 victory.
•In that game, the Explorers had four players play the full 40 minutes and had just one reserve, with K'Zell Wesson going for 14 points and 18 rebounds.
•Rasual Butler had 19 points while current assistant coach Donnie Carr went for 25 points and seven assists.
•The last trip to UD Arena resulted in a 70-39 loss for the Explorers on March 6, 2019. Jared Kimbrough had eight points and nine rebounds in that game.
•In last year's game at Tom Gola Arena (box score to the left), #20 Dayton snapped a five-game La Salle winning streak as it jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead and went on to a 84-58 win.
•Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Obi Toppin had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Flyers, while Ayinde Hikim had nine points and four assists for the Explorers.

THREE-RAY
•Sophomore Christian Ray has been a selective, but productive, outside shooter for the Explorers this season.
•Ray has knocked down a three-pointer in all but two of the team's eight games this year, and is 6-for-11 (.545) overall.
•In addition to his outside shooting efficiency, Ray has been one of the top rebounders on the team for the second straight season.
•The Gap, Pa. product is pulling down 4.8 rebounds per game, second-best on the squad.