PHILADELPHIA — Andrés Marrero scored a career-high 16 points while leading the La Salle men's basketball team to its second straight win by beating Bucknell, 82-72, on Tuesday night at Tom Gola Arena.
With the win, the Explorers climbed over the .500 mark, improving to 5-4 on the season. In addition, the Explorers are 4-0 at Gola Arena this season for the first time since 2011-12, when they went 12-0 in home games to start that campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Explorers jumped out to a 20-7 lead in the first nine minutes of the half. Hassan Drame and Josh Nickelberry sparked the run with two three-pointers apiece.
- After the Bison cut the lead to five with 8:28 remaining by going on a 10-0 run following a Rokas Jocius basket, the Explorers saw Marrero catch fire, as he had 10 points over the next five minutes to help them maintain a 36-29 lead. Marrero hit two three-pointers during that span.
- The Explorers went on to take a 41-32 lead at halftime after Nickelberry hit the seventh three-pointer of the half and Fousseyni Drame made a pair of free throws.
- In the second half, the Explorers made some great hustle plays to earn second-chance opportunities on offense and go up 49-39 by the first media timeout at 15:52. Drame had a key offensive rebound in which he managed to grab the ball and make a diving pass to Jhamir Brickus, who hit a jumper from the corner to put La Salle up by 10.
- From there, the Explorers grabbed six of their eight offensive rebounds over the next 13 minutes, which led to eight of their 12 second-chance points in the half, including a layup by Fousseyni Drame off his own offensive rebound that put them up 76-67 with 2:53 left.
- From there, the Explorers added six more points to ensure the victory.
GAME NOTES
- Marrero scored his 16 points after going 6-for-9 from the field. Coming into Tuesday's game, Marrero had only 14 points this season, with six of them coming against Temple last Wednesday.
- The Explorers also received double figures in points from Fousseyni Drame, Brickus, Hassan Drame, and Josh Nickelberry, giving the team five scorers in double digits for the first time this season. Fousseyni Drame had 15 points, while Brickus and Hassan Drame added 12 points apiece and Nickelberry finished with 11.
- After having a monster game against Penn last Saturday, Anwar Gill led La Salle with eight assists.
- Fousseyni Drame, Hassan Drame and Jocius led the team in blocks after each swatting two shots apiece.
- The Explorers have performed well at Tom Gola Arena, producing winning records at home in five of the last six seasons. The Explorers have gone 49-35 in Gola Arena during that span.
- The Explorers have won their last six 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.
- The Explorers shot their best field goal percentage as a team against the Bison, making 50 percent of their shots (33-for-66).
- The Explorers made 10 threes in a game at Gola Arena for the first time this season and accomplished that feat for the fourth time overall this year.
- The Explorers improved to 21-7 overall against Bucknell in the all-time series.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers will return to Tom Gola Arena on Saturday when they host City 6 foe Drexel Tip-off is set for noon.
