PHILADELPHIA – In a defensive battle, La Salle men's basketball (12-13, 3-10 A-10) emerged victorious over Fordham (7-19, 1-13 A-10), 58-49, on Wednesday night.

The Explorers put together their best defensive performance against a conference rival since defeating Saint Joseph's, 53-48, during the 2014-15 season. On the offensive end, junior David Beatty and sophomore Ed Croswell paced the team as both finished in double-digits.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Redshirt junior Scott Spencer sunk a pair of threes, bookending a Fordham jumper as La Salle began the game up 6-2. Fordham closed to within one before the Explorers rattled off five straight points.
• Fordham flooded forward with a seven-point spurt to take its first lead of the game, 12-10. Throughout the half, the Explorers stayed within striking distance and strike they did: down 19-17 with two minutes remaining, a pair of free throws from sophomore Jared Kimbrough tied the game and a three by junior David Beatty put La Salle up 22-19 at the half.
• Out of the intermission, freshman Ayinde Hikim buried a shot from deep and sophomore Ed Croswell ran on the break for a dunk as the Blue & Gold opened up an eight-point advantage. Afterwards, La Salle weathered a 10-4 Rams run that brought the lead down to two.
• The Explorers found their answer from deep with threes from freshman Christian Ray (twice) and Beatty part of an 11-2 response that pushed the home side's advantage to 42-31.
• That gap proved more than enough as La Salle scored 16 of the final 34 points to win by nine.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Croswell and Beatty both led the team on offense with 12 points each.
• Ten of La Salle's 19 made field goals came from beyond the arc.
• The Blue & Gold received a boost from the bench, outscoring Fordham's bench 22-5.
• La Salle outrebounded its opponent 38-27 and outscored them 14-3 in second chance points.
• La Salle restricted the Rams to 16.7% from deep, the lowest percentage allowed all season. 
• The 49 points allowed is the lowest mark in all competitions since La Salle defeated Saint Peter's 61-40 on November 11, 2017.
• The Explorers held Fordham to 19 points in the first half, the lowest amount La Salle has allowed in any half this season.
• The Blue & Gold now moves to 12-0 when leading at halftime.

UP NEXT

• La Salle hits the road for matchups at George Washington on Saturday, Feb. 22 and Davidson next Tuesday, Feb. 25.
• The next game at Gola Arena will be Senior Day vs. St. Bonaventure on Saturday, February 29th.
• Prior to the game, which is set for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff, seniors Saul Phiri, Isiah Deas and Moustapha Diagne will be honored in a brief ceremony.