Box Score PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team suffered overtime heartbreak in the 2021-22 season opener inside Tom Gola Arena on Tuesday evening, falling to Sacred Heart by an 86-81 margin.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Josh Nickelberry got the offense started in his first game donning the Blue and Gold, hitting the first triple of the game and eclipsing his career-high as a Louisville Cardinal with seven points in the opening eight minutes of play.
• After a small run by the Pioneers to lead by as much as six early in the first half, Khalil Brantley scored his first points as an Explorer as the freshman gave the Explorers a 24-22 lead with five minutes remaining in the half.
• The defense forced Sacred Heart into just 1-12 shooting from the field to finish the opening 20 minutes, holding a 30-26 advantage at the break.
• La Salle opened the second half on a 12-5 run after Nickelberry's sixth three of the game and an ensuing Anwar Gill steal and dunk put the Explorers up 42-31.
• After a double technical from Sacred Heart gave the Explorers four free throws, La Salle failed to connect on any of them on the Pioneers' way to a 15-0 run to take the lead at 57-55.
• The Explorers regained the lead and extended it to five as Brantley's circus shot dropped as he fought contact, but was unable to convert on the and-one opportunity.
• After missing the front end of a 1-1 with 20 seconds remaining, Sacred Heart cut a three point deficit after Aaron Clarke drained a corner three with no time on the clock to force extra time inside Tom Gola Arena.
• A high-scoring extra frame saw the visitors edge La Salle 19-14, knocking down 7-of-8 attempts from the charity stripe to help keep their lead into the final buzzer.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Nickelberry led the Explorers with 22 points on 6-11 shooting from range, scoring 19 of them in the first half. The transfer scored just 37 in his two years at Louisville in his debut for the Explorers. The Fayetteville, N.C. native added seven rebounds in the loss.
• Jack Clark ended the night with a double-double, adding 11 rebounds to his 12 points.
• Anwar Gill filled the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. The sophomore guard eclipsed his previous high in swipes and tied a career high in assists.
• 16 of Sherif Kenney's 19 points came in the second half, the junior guard a perfect 2-of-2 from deep in the overtime period.
• As a team, the Explorers shot 30-79 (38.0%) from the field and 15-40 (37.5%) from deep. Sacred Heart finished 32-70 (45.7%) and 11-31 (35.5%) behind the arc.
• Sacred Heart's leading scorer from last season, Tyler Thomas, finished the night with 24 points to lead all scorers, going 9-27 and 2-13 from distance.

UP NEXT

• La Salle hosts Albany on Homecoming Weekend, playing in the second part of a double-header on Saturday, Nov. 13 set for a 4 p.m. tip.