Men's Basketball | December 3, 2021

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team returns to Tom Gola Arena tomorrow for a midday contest against Holy Cross, hosting visitors in Gola for the first time in two weeks.
 
The game is scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. on Saturday and can be seen on ESPN+, Kale Beers and Richard Prendegast on call for the action on both the broadcast and on the audio only on goexplorers.com/watch.
 
NEWS AND NOTES

• A two-game hiatus from the friendly confines of home sees the Explorers return to Gola on Saturday afternoon, stints inside the city at the Palestra and the Liacouras Center in their last two matchups against Villanova and Temple.
• Reviving this season's Big Five matchups, La Salle saw itself on the wrong side of two defeats to the Wildcats and Owls, 0-2 against its Philly rivals.
• The Explorers come off just their second of three road games of the non-conference campaign against Temple, their final matchup just a short trip away to Bucknell in the middle of December.
• The Explorers look to extinguish a mini two-game losing streak that they hold, last defeating Army West Point on November 20th.
• A slow start to the game against Temple saw the Explorers endure an Owl lead that couldn't be climbed back from, Sherif Kenney's career-high 23 points unable to topple Temple on Wednesday night.
• Kenney leads the team in scoring after his outburst against the Owls with a team-high 10.8 points per game, one of seven Explorers averaging at least six points.
• Christian Ray proved yet again his rebounding prowess, climbing for 12 rebounds against the Owls, including nine offensive boards. The junior guard now has more offensive rebounds (26) than defensive rebounds (24) on the season, leading the team with 8.3 karoms per game.
• The Explorers are currently 2-0 on Saturdays and undefeated on the season when games tip at 4 p.m. or earlier.

 
SCOUTING HOLY CROSS

• The Holy Cross Crusaders enter the weekend matchup sitting at 2-6. Holy Cross opened its season with a 47 point win over Regis before four-straight losses - three by double-figures - were righted by another blowout in a 43 point win over Mount St. Vincent.
• The Crusaders enter on a two-game losing streak, falling to Central Connecticut midweek.
• Judson Martindale - averaging 12.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game - paces the Crusader offense and is one of three players entering the matchup scoring in double-digits.
• Kyrell Luke and Gerrale Gates also score 10+ points a game, the former adding 12.3 points while the latter tallies 12.0 points and leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game.

 
SHARING THE BALL

• Since 2012, the Explorers have had just 13 games with six or less assists in a game. With one lone assist in the loss to Villanova, the Explorers are now 1-12 in those games. The only win came in a 75-71 double-overtime victory over Penn in the 2017-18 season, tallying just six dimes in the victory.
• Only one other Division I team has produced just one assist in a game this season - Saturday's foes Holy Cross, who grabbed one dime on 18 field goals in a 72-53 loss to Air Force.

 
REEFY RIPPING NETS

• Sherif Kenney found his mark in the road defeat to Temple. With 18 in the opener, Reef scored just 24 points combined in the next five games before the matchup with the Owls, where he produced a career-high in points (23), field goals made (8) and three pointers made (5).
• Relatively quiet in the opening 20 minutes, the reigning A-10 Sixth Man of the Year put on a show in the second half against Sacred Heart in the opener. Kenney took over for a cooling Nickelberry, 16 of his 18 points coming after the first half break. Kenney went 2-2 in the overtime period from deep to keep the Explorers within striking distance.

 
RELIABLE RAY

• For the third time in six games, the junior guard secured double-figure rebounds, tallying a team-high 12 boards against Temple. After six games, Christian Ray averages 8.3 rebounds per game and has secured more offensive rebounds (26) than defensive (24).

 
SERIES HISTORY

• In a series dating back to 1949, the Explorers and Crusaders come together for their 24th meeting in series history.
• The Explorers hold the advantage in the matchup, last meeting in a 58-54 Explorer win in 2017 that was played in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic.
• The two teams have only met twice in the 21st century, splitting the series 1-1 in that span. The only other meeting in the 2000s came in the 2006-07 campaign where the visitors came to Tom Gola Arena and grabbed a win.
• This will be the first time Coach Howard faces the Crusaders.