PHILADELPHIA — Fousseyni scored a career-high 22 points off the bench to lead the La Salle head men's basketball team to a 72-60 victory over Queens University of Charlotte in the on-campus round of the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic on Tuesday night at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.
The Explorers' win put them at 2-1 on the young season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Explorers and Royals battled back and forth through the first 16 minutes of the game, as the Royals held a 23-22 lead.
- Then, the Explorers put together 6-0 run, which Daeshon Shepherd punctuated by nailing a three-pointer to give them a 28-23 lead with 3:21 left.
- The Explorers closed the half with a 36-28 lead after going on a 8-5 run, highlighted by Shepherd's alley-oop jam from Anwar Gill.
- In the second half, the Explorers started to pull away by going on a 16-8 run in the first six minutes to take a 52-36 lead. Drame scored seven points during the run.
- From there, the Explorers saw Drame and Khalil Brantley take over the game. Drame and Brantley combined for 27 of the Explorers' 36 points in the second half, as Drame had 15 while Brantley added 12.
GAME NOTES
- Drame's 22 points matched his career high, as he had 22 against Nyack last season when he played for Saint Peter's, which he helped lead to the Elight Eight. Drame also led the Explorers with eight rebounds and matched his career high in minutes with 34.
- After scoring a career-high 22 points last Saturday against Wagner, Brantley finished Tuesday's game with 18 points and led the team with six assists.
- The Explorers only turned the ball over nine times against the Royals, matching that season-best total after only committing nine turnovers against Villanova. The Explorers also forced 24 turnovers and scored 22 points off them.
- With wins over Wagner and Queens, the Explorers have won their last four games at Gola Arena dating back to last season, when they topped Dayton (62-60 on Feb. 26) and Saint Joseph's (49-48 on March 2), respectively.
- Fran Dunphy became the 10th head coach in La Salle history to win his first two home games as a head coach.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers will travel to Montego Bay, Jamaica to play Wake Forest on Friday in the first round of the tournament at the Montego Bay Convention Centre. Tip-off for that game is at 2 p.m.
- After that game, the Explorers will play either Georgetown or Loyola Marymount on Sunday in the final day of the tournament.
