Men's Basketball | February 11, 2020

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's basketball team hosts Richmond at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., and the action will be available live to fans on ESPN+.

The first 300 students in attendance will receive a free t-shirt, courtesy of Thur-O Pest. In honor of Valentine's Day this week, a free limousine ride will be given out courtesy of Global Limo and a Staycation Giveaway will also be awarded to a lucky fan, thanks to Courtyard by Marriott.

NEWS & NOTES
•The Explorers are looking to build on their 83-66 victory over rival Saint Joseph's on Saturday, a game that saw five players score in double figures.
•Junior David Beatty matched his career high with 18 points and scored 10+ points for the fifth straight game.
•Sophomore Ed Croswell tallied 14 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench, including six offensive boards.
•Croswell currently ranks second nationally in offensive rebounding rate (19.4%), behind only Merrimack's Jordan Minor (20.2%).
•The 6-8 forward has pulled down five or more offensive rebounds in a game eight times this season, including six times in his last seven contests.
•Freshman Sherif Kenney returned from a minor injury that forced him to miss two games to score 12 points, the sixth time he has reached double figures this year.
•Classmate Ayinde Hikim contributed 10 points, a career-high seven rebounds and three assists while junior Scott Spencer had 11.

SCOUTING RICHMOND
•The Spiders are playing their second straight road game and are looking for their third straight win on Wednesday.
•Richmond ranks as the second-best offensive team in the Atlantic 10 at 75.1 points per game.
•Junior transfer Blake Francis, who did not play against the Explorers in the first meeting between the two schools, is averaging a team-best 17.6 points per game.
•Two more juniors -- Jacob Gilyard and Grant Golden -- are second and third on the team in the category at 14.4 and 12.9 ppg, respectively.
•Gilyard currently leads all NCAA players at 3.2 steals per game and also ranks second in the A-10 in assists per contest (5.6).

HOW ARE WE TRENDING?
•David Beatty and Ed Croswell have both scored in double figures in five straight games.
•Over his last five contests, Ed Croswell is averaging 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game, including three double-doubles.
•David Beatty is averaging 14.2 points per game and shooting 42.4 percent from beyond the arc over his last five games.
•Scott Spencer and David Beatty have each made at least one three-pointer apiece in nine straight games and drawn at least one steal apiece in nine of the last 10 games.
•As a team, La Salle has made 6+ three-pointers in nine straight games.
•Ayinde Hikim has notched 3+ assists in 18 of the 22 games, including 5+ assists in four of his last six games.
•Ed Croswell has had 4+ rebounds in all 21 games he has played in, including 6+ boards 15 times and 10+ rebounds six times.
•Saul Phiri has recorded at least one steal in 13 of his last 15 games.
•Christian Ray has had 4+ rebounds in 11 of his last 15 games and has had 6+ rebounds nine times this season.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY (RICHMOND LEADS 20-16)
•This will be the 37th all-time meeting between La Salle and Richmond.
•La Salle is 9-7 all-time at home against Richmond and 5-7 at Tom Gola Arena.
•The Explorers and Spiders first met in 1955, a 91-80 win by the Explorers.
•La Salle won the first four games of the series, while the Spiders have won five of the last six.
•The two teams have met every season since 2001-02.
•The last time the Explorers defeated the Spiders at Tom Gola Arena was in 2015, a 64-62 victory.
•Last year, the Explorers earned a 66-58 win at Richmond as Ed Croswell grabbed 16 rebounds, while Saul Phiri and Isiah Deas each scored 13 points.
•In their last meeting at Gola Arena last season, the Spiders pulled away late for an 84-75 win despite 40 combined points from Pookie Powell (24) and Isiah Deas (16).
•Earlier this season, on Jan. 22, La Salle fell behind early in a 75-57 defeat at Richmond. 
•Freshman Sherif Kenney scored a career-high 19 points, while Ed Croswell had a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.