MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA — The La Salle men's basketball team came back from 20 points down in the second half against Georgetown to the tie game with 2:14 to play, but the Hoyas managed to fend off the Explorers for a 69-62 victory in the consolation game of the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
The loss put the Explorers at 2-3 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After trailing by as many as 25 points in the first half and being down, 41-21, at halftime, the Explorers started to chip away at Georgetown's lead by going on an 11-4 run in the first 3:14 of the second half to make it a 45-32 game. Jhamir Brickus was a big part of the run, scoring nine of the 11 points.
- Then after the Hoyas extended their lead to 54-34 with 13:35 remaining, the Explorers kicked it into overdrive, outscoring Georgetown by a 28-8 margin to make it a 62-all ballgame with 2:14 left.
- Anwar Gill led the charge during the Explorers' rally, scoring seven points. Fousseyni Drame added six points, and Brickus, Khalil Brantley and Hassan Drame chipped in five apiece. Brickus hit the biggest shot during the comeback, making a three-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game.
- However, the Hoyas went back down the court and took the lead on a turnaround jumper by Qudus Wahab. Then, after La Salle turned over the ball on its next possession, Georgetown made a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 66-62 with 1:20 left.
- The Explorers attempted two more shots to try to cut the deficit, but the Hoyas came away with a defensive rebound and made two more foul shots to extend their lead to 68-62 with 29 seconds left.
- The Explorers took two more three-pointers to try to trim Georgetown's lead, but the Hoyas got another defensive rebound and added another point on a free throw to seal the win.
GAME NOTES
- Brickus led the way for the Explorers, scoring 14 points — all of which came in the second half — on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. The junior guard also played a season-high 38 minutes.
- Brantley was named to the Jamaica Classic All-Tournament team for his performances over the weekend. The sophomore guard had 20 points, 13 of which came against Georgetown, 15 rebounds and seven assists in the Explorers' two games.
- Gill scored a season-high 13 points while going 6-for-11 from the field. The junior guard also played a season-high 26 minutes.
- The Explorers had 40 rebounds as a team in one game for the first time this season. Hassan Drame led La Salle with eight rebounds in the defeat.
- Despite the loss, La Salle holds a 15-11 lead in the all-time series with Georgetown dating back to 1946.
- With their losses in the Jamaica Classic, the Explorers have gone 4-4 in games played internationally. In their first trip overseas in 1990-91 when they played in the Daiwa Ball in Tokyo, Japan, they swept Baylor (87-82) and Idaho (83-61), respectively. In their second trip in 2010-11 when they played in the Cancun Classic in Cancun, Mexico, they topped Providence, 84-73, but fell to Missouri by an 83-71 count. In their third international trip in 2017 when they played in the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic in Belfast, Ireland, the Explorers fell to Towson, 67-60, but bounced back to defeat Holy Cross, 58-54, in the second game.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers will fly back to the U.S. and get ready to host Binghamton on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
