Men's Basketball | December 10, 2021

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team concludes a three-game home stand inside Tom Gola Arena on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Quakers of Penn in a Saturday afternoon matchup. The penultimate home game of the nonconference campaign puts a four-game win streak inside Gola on the line, with action set for 2:00 p.m.
 
Kale Beers and Richard Prendergast are on the call on the weekend, with the matchup set to take place on ESPN+.

PROMOTIONS

• The Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan will be at Tom Gola Arena. Free photos with Santa and product tasting from 12-3pm will be available outside of TruMark Financial Center.
• At halftime, the Hall of Athletes will gain four more inductees as La Salle Athletics will honor the four newest members during intermission. Courtney Niemiec (WSOC), Carlene Hightower (WBB), Barbara McGugan (FH) and Stanley Cwiklinski (MROW) all will be honored.
• Toys for Tots - Fans can bring in unopened toys to help take part in the holiday spirit. The Toys for Tots box can be found by the ticket office for any donations.

 
NEWS AND NOTES

• For the sixth time in eight games to start the season, the Explorers host an opponent inside of Tom Gola Arena. La Salle is concluding a three-game home stand when they face Penn.
• Both sides enter the game looking for their first Big Five win on the season, the Explorers 0-2 and Penn 0-3 entering Saturday.
• After the first four games of the season proved to be decided by one possession at the end of the regulation, the last four games have been decided by double-figures, La Salle earning its largest margin of victory this year with a 26 point win over FDU on Tuesday evening.
• The final of five games in a span of two weeks, La Salle looks to put its four-game win streak on the line inside Gola in their penultimate nonconference home game. The final home matchup before conference play begins is set in a Dec. 21 matchup against Drexel.
• La Salle hasn't left city limits in nearly a month, when they made their first road trip of the season at Delaware.
• The Explorers offense has been clicking the last two games, showing with a 26-point victory over FDU in the midweek. Leading by 11 at the break, the defense stifled the Knights and allowed the offense to create separation to put the game away early in the second half.
• Nickelberry produced his second straight - third of the season - game with 20+ points, finishing with a game-high 24. Jack Clark rebounded with his best performance of the season, tallying 18 points and eight rebounds.
• Anwar Gill turned provider on the night, setting a career-high in assists with nine dimes, while Mamadou Doucore had his best game in a La Salle uniform with a career-high 10 rebounds.

 
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS

• The Quakers are 3-8 on the season, entering the game on a five game skid. Penn has competed against three ranked teams, suffering double-digit defeat to all three.
• Saturday's game will be the eighth away game of the season and 11th game away from The Palestra for the Quakers, having competed at the Myrtle Beach Invitational mid-November.
• Penn - picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League - is led by 2019-20 Freshman All-American and Ivy League Rookie of the Year Jordan Dingle, the sophomore averaging 20.5 points per game while leading the team in assists with 33.
• Jonah Charles tallies 9.4 ppg, while Max Martz adds 8.4 points and a team-high 5.7 rebounds.

 
DEBUTS ON DEBUTS

• A trio of Explorers earned their season debut in the rout over FDU, including a pair of collegiate debuts. Kyle Thompson, Charles Ireland and Brandon Dwyer all entered into the game against the Knights, Ireland recording his first collegiate points.

 
SHINING ON SATURDAYS

• Seven games in, the Explorers were unblemished on Saturdays, winning all three games played. All three wins also came in the daytime, La Salle 0-4 when playing at 6 pm or later.
• The 26 point rout over FDU is the first time that the Explorers won on any day besides Saturday and after 4 p.m.

 
OUTSHOOTING THE SLUMP

• After two matchups against Big Five opponents, the Explorers shook off the rust of two shooting performances against Temple and Villanova. After combining for 31-111 (25.2%) from the field against Philly foes, the Explorers recovered by shooting 34-64 (54.0%) against Holy Cross, their highest shooting percentage of the season.
• La Salle backed up its performance with a similarly strong offensive output against FDU. The Explorers recorded a 48.4% shooting percentage on 30-62 from the field, connecting on 13-28 (46.4%) of their attempts from range.

 
DEFENDING IS AN ART

• In their nonconference campaign, the Explorers are 4-0 when allowing less than 65 points and 0-4 when allowing 70+ points.
• La Salle held Army West Point to 58 points on 31.1% shooting, a season-low for an opponent in both categories until allowing just 55 points to FDU, holding the Knights to just 22.2% from the field in the second half.
• The 61 points against Army is the lowest the Explorers scored in a win since a Dec. 12 contest last season against Drexel, defeating the Dragons 58-48.

 
NICKELBERRY HEATING UP

• Nickelberry made it back-to-back games with 20+ points, starting to heat up with 24 points on 8-12 shooting against the Knights. His three games with 20+ points already ties for a team-high as an Explorer, Sherif Kenney the only other player to eclipse that tally.

 
GILL'S GOT GAME

• In his best game of the season for the Explorers, Gill made the most of his first start against FDU. The sophomore collected a career-high nine dimes on the night, tallying five rebounds on an efficient 3-5 night from the field for seven points.

 
DOUCOURE DOMINATING

• First year Explorer Mamadou Doucoure produced the best game of his time on 20th and Olney, tallying a career-high 10 rebounds against FDU while scoring four points on the offensive end.

 
HOME SWEET HOME

• The Explorers spend their non-conference campaign local to the City of Brotherly Love, only leaving Philly twice before the new year. Already playing Delaware and Temple on the road, the last trip coming with a visit to Bucknell on Dec. 18.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• The Quakers enter the season with an all-time record of 42-31 over the Explorers in a series that dates back to the year of 1934, meeting for the 74th time on Saturday.
• Winners of nine of the last 13 matchups, the Explorers have held a modern advantage over the Quakers until as of late, Penn getting the better of their Philly counterparts in four of the last six games.
• The last win over the Quakers inside of Tom Gola Arena came in 2014-15, a 17-point victory over Penn that capped off an eight-game win streak in the series.
• Coach Howard looks for his first win over the Quakers, previously 0-2 in his first two attempts.