Men's Basketball | January 29, 2021

RICHMOND, Va. - The La Salle men's basketball team will look to bounce back on the road Saturday in a nationally-televised Atlantic 10 Conference matchup at VCU. The game will air live on NBC Sports Network, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Jac Collinsworth and Ron Thompson will be on the call.

NEWS & NOTES
•Sophomore Christian Ray matched his career high with 15 points, but it wasn't enough against Rhode Island in a 73-60 setback at Tom Gola Arena Wednesday night.
•The two squads went back-and-forth for most of the game, with La Salle holding a 31- 30 lead with just two minutes remaining in the first half.
•The Rams ended the opening half on a 7-0 run to head into the locker room up 37-31 and extended the difference to seven in the second half before the Explorers worked it back to a three-point game.
•La Salle remained within three at the under-eight media timeout, 56-53, after Ray forced a steal and went coast-to-coast for a dunk.
•However, Rhode Island answered with eight straight points and concluded the game on a 17-7 run to close the door.
•Ray had his best offensive game of the season, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor and 2-for-3 from deep while chipping in six rebounds and matching a career best with three steals. Redshirt sophomore Jack Clark added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
•Rhode Island's offense was firing on all cylinders, shooting 56.0 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc, while La Salle was held to a 38.3 percent shooting night.
•The Explorers had won two straight games prior to the defeat with a home victory over rival Saint Joseph's on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and a road win over Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Richmond.

SCOUTING VCU
•The Rams head into the weekend at 11-4 overall and 4-2 in league play, while they have had much success at home with a 6-1 mark at the Siegel Center.
•VCU cruised past Dayton, 66-43, at home last Saturday behind Na'Shon "Bones" Hyland, who finished with 28 points, including five three-pointers.
•Hyland leads the Rams with 18.6 points per game, which puts him fourth in the Atlantic 10, while Vince Williams chips in 10.5 points per contest.
•The Rams lead the A-10 in both blocked shots (6.1 bpg) and steals (10.7 spg) while sitting third in the league with a 9.0 scoring margin. 

RAY-BAN VISION
•Sophomore Christian Ray has been a reliable option as a shooter and rebounder both as a starter and off the bench this season.
•In the win over Richmond, Ray tallied 11 points and eight rebounds, and followed that up by matching his career best of 15 points and three steals to go with six boards against Rhode Island.
•The 6-6 guard is shooting 53.0 percent from the floor on the season, including 55.8 percent in Atlantic 10 play, and is averaging 11.3 points over his last three games.
•In addition to his effective shooting, Ray leads the team in rebounding as a guard, pulling down 5.2 rebounds per game.

ROAD WARRIORS
•Two of La Salle's biggest wins on the season have both come on the road in Atlantic 10 play - at Dayton (12/30) and at Richmond (1/23).
•First, La Salle capped off 2020 with a thrilling 67-65 win at Dayton on a last second jumper by redshirt junior Clifton Moore.
•The victory snapped Dayton's 20-game A-10 win streak and also marked La Salle's first win at Dayton since 1999.
•Last Saturday, the Explorers made another statement win on the road, coming from behind to knock off preseason Atlantic 10 favorite Richmond, 84-78.
•Six Explorers scored in double figures led by sophomore Sherif Kenney (17) as La Salle shot a season-best 52.9 percent from three-point territory and hit 57.1 percent from the floor while owning a 34-2 advantage in bench scoring.

KIMBROUGH NAMED BIG 5 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Junior Jared Kimbrough was named Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week as well as College Sports Madness Mid-Major Player of the Week after putting forth a lights-out performance over La Salle's 2-0 week.
•Over the two wins, Kimbrough averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting an incredible 94.4% (17-for-18) from the field.
•The 6-8 big man demolished his career high with 24 points in last week's win over Saint Joseph's and was nearly perfect from the floor, shooting 12-for-13 with the only miss coming on his only three-point attempt of the season. He also added six rebounds.
•In a road win over preseason Atlantic 10 favorite Richmond, he had 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots while going perfect from the field (5-5).