PHILADELPHIA — The La Salle men's basketball team climbed back to .500 on the season by beating Binghamton, 65-62, in non-conference action Saturday at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.
The win put the Explorers at 3-3 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After getting off to a slow start in the first four minutes of the game and trailing, 6-4, the Explorers took a 12-9 lead on the Bearcats with 11:33 left after they went on an 8-3 run. Josh Nickelberry sparked the run by making a layup and hitting a three-pointer off an inbounds pass from Khalil Brantley.
- Then, the Explorers put together an 11-6 run to expand their lead to 23-15, thanks to Jhamir Brickus, Brantley and Anwar GIll each making a three.
- Both teams went back and forth for the rest of the half, but the Explorers managed to take a 36-27 lead into halftime.
- In the second half, the Bearcats managed to come back and take a 58-56 lead with 3:22 left. However, Nickelberry hit a crucial three-pointer, as he made a three from the left side to put La Salle up, 59-58, with 3:12 left.
- After Binghamton took a 61-60 lead with 1:38 left, the Explorers received two huge baskets from Hassan Drame and Brantley. Drame faked a shot and drove in for a layup to give La Salle a 62-61 lead with 1:18 left. Then, Brantley made a tough layup in the lane with 18 seconds left to help La Salle go ahead 64-61 before it earned the 65-62 win.
GAME NOTES
- Nickelberry led the way for the Explorers with 17 points.
- Brantley and Drame also finished in double figures for La Salle. Brantley finished with 15 points, while Drame had 13.
- Gill and Drame also filled up the stat sheet for the Explorers. Gill and Drame tied for the team lead in rebounds with five. Gill also led the team with five assists, while Drame paced the Explorers with four steals.
- The Explorers have won their first three home games of the season for the first time since 2017-18, when they topped Saint Peter's (61-40 on Nov. 11, 2017), South Alabama (81-73 on Nov. 16, 2017), and Temple (87-83 on Nov. 26, 2017)
- Dunphy became the eighth head coach in La Salle history to win his first three home games as a head coach.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers have a pair of Big 5 matchups next week, starting on Wednesday when they take on Temple at The Palestra. Then, they will head back to The Palestra to face Penn on Saturday.
- Tip-off for the Temple game is at 6 p.m. Game time for the Penn game is 2 p.m.
