Men's Basketball | February 1, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team heads to the nation's capital on Wednesday evening, taking on George Washington in an Atlantic 10 matchup tipping at 7 p.m.
 
The Explorers (6-12, 1-7 A-10) meet the Colonials (7-12, 3-4 A-10) for the first time since the 2019-20 season after last year's matchup was unable to take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two teams meet for the second-straight time inside Washington, D.C., action being broadcasted on ESPN+ and on the GoExplorers website with Kale Beers on the radio call.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• The Explorers head to Washington D.C. on Wednesday afternoon to battle George Washington inside the nation's capital. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. tip off on ESPN+.
• La Salle will leave the city of Philadelphia for just the fifth time of the season, just the seventh game on the road for the Explorers. The Explorers have yet to win a road game outside of Philadelphia, their lone win coming against Saint Joseph's.
• La Salle looks to break a four-game losing streak, a drought spanning since January 17 when the Explorers knocked off the Hawks on Hawk Hill.
• Looking to add to their win column on Wednesday, the Explorers have yet to garner a win on Wednesday with an 0-4 record on the season.
• The Explorers come off of a close defeat in Davidson, falling to the league-leading and #25 ranked Wildcats in a noon weekend matchup.
• La Salle fell in an early hole, seeing a double-digit Wildcat lead stun the Explorers in the opening couple of minutes. The Blue and Gold rallied, closing the gap to just seven at the break. With momentum shifting in the favor of the visiting team after cutting the lead to four late in the second half, the Explorers were unable to overcome early foul trouble, Davidson sinking 14-14 of their attempts at the charity stripe to close out the game in the last five minutes, winning 77-69.
• Jack Clark has found an extra gear on the offensive end of the ball, grabbing a game-high 18 points in the loss to Davidson. Five of the last six games have seen Clark in double figures. Clifton Moore finished his month of January eclipsing 10+ points in all seven games, finishing with 14 against the Wildcats.

 
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON

• George Washington enters the game with three wins in their last five attempts, moving to 7-12 on the season, 3-4 in A-10 play after defeating Fordham on Sunday.
• The Colonials meet the Explorers as two of the premier shot-blocking teams in the conference clash in the nation's capital. GW ranks 43rd in the country averaging 4.7 blocks per game.
• George Washington is amongst the best in the country defending the deep ball. The Colonials allow just 30% of opponent's attempts from deep, ranking 42nd in the country.
• James Bishop leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. Joe Bamisile adds 14.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
• Ricky Lindo Jr. outputs 8.4 points while tallying a team-high 8.0 rebounds.
• The Colonials struggle from the field, averaging 41.6% from the field and 30.1% from the three.

 
STEPPING UP

• The Explorers have seen a shared effort throughout the season in game leaders, a trio combining for a majority of games led with points and rebounds.
• Josh Nickelberry leads the Explorers with six games scoring a team-high, while Clifton Moore and Jack Clark trail behind with five and four games each.
• Moore has been a common denominator on the glass as well, pacing the team with seven games tallying the most karoms. Both Clark and Christian Ray each have secured the most boards on five occasions.

 
LIVE AND DIE AT THE LINE

• The Explorers struggled to get to the line in the month of January, seeing lopsided tallies in favor of opposition throughout the month. La Salle conceded a 155-96 deficit at the foul line the last 6 games, opponents averaging more than 22 attempts per game.
• On four separate occasion, the Explorers were on the wrong side of a double-digit margin on the line:  -22 against St. Bonaventure, -10 at Rhode Island, -15 against UMass and -13 at Davidson.

 
LINE CHANGES

• Coach Howard hasn't been afraid to switch up the starting five this season, having gone with eight different lineups to begin the game entering the 19th game.
• The only remaining constant has been Clifton Moore - the only player making a start in each game this season. Josh Nickelberry and Jhamir Brickus are next closes with 14 and 13 starts each.
• Nine different Explorers have registered at least three starts.

 
Mr. 500

• With two minutes left on the clock and the Explorers trailing by four to UMass, Jack Clark stepped to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws. Not only did it cut the deficit to two (later wiped away by a jumper from Clark), but it also gave the redshirt junior his 500th career point in his 50th career game.
• Clark becomes the first on the team to eclipse the 500 mark.

 
Jack Clark......... 518
Christian Ray.... 406
Clifton Moore... 389
Jhamir Brickus.. 353
 
LEARNING TO CLOSE

• Despite a 6-12 record, the Explorers can look back to a few games that could have easily swung the balance into their favor. La Salle has held a double-digit lead in five of its losses.
• Four of those losses saw the Explorers hold their largest lead of the game in the second half, Rhode Island the only outlier in which the Explorers had their biggest margin in the opening 20 minutes.

 
STATS OF SIGNIFICANCE

• La Salle is 0-10 when trailing with five minutes left in the game, having been unable to come back from late deficits thus far.
• Fortunes haven't favored the Explorers in midweek matchups or in night games. La Salle is 1-7 in games on Tuesday-Thursday and 1-8 in games played at 6 p.m. or later. The one anomaly of both of those stats is a 81-55 rout over Fairleigh Dickinson on a Tuesday night contest.

 
MOORE IN JANUARY

• Clifton Moore has proven himself to be a menace on the defensive side of the ball, ranking 28th in the nation in blocks with 2.50 blocks per game. His six blocks against Army West Point, Moore recorded the most blocks in a game since November 20, 2010 when Aaric Murray recorded nine in a 79-74 win over Morgan State. The six blocks is fourth-most in program history.
• Moore started his January with a 21/12 effort against VCU for the first double-double of his career, setting a career-high in rebounds. He produced his second-straight 10/10 performance of his career the next time out, tallying 17 and 10 against St. Bonaventure. The Ambler native again tallied a double-double against St. Joe's, garnering the third-straight of his career with a 16/10 performance against the Hawks.
• His fourth double-double came in the span of five games, putting 19 points on Richmond and tying a career-high with 12 rebounds on 9-12 shooting.
• The redshirt senior produced his best month in his collegiate career, taking a next level to his game heading into A-10 play. Moore averaged 15.9 points per game in January, grabbing 8.0 rebounds per game while recording 2.0 blocks per game. He also recorded eight assists and four steals in the seven games.
• Moore has scored in double-figures in his last seven games, nine times in his last 11.

 
 
JACK OF ALL TRADES

• Jack Clark registered his first career double-double in the season opener against Sacred Heart. The Cheltenham native added 12 points and 11 rebounds in the overtime loss. Clark joins Christian Ray and Clifton Moore as the only three Explorers to record a double-double, the latter each with four in their career.
• Clark produced his best game of the season in a Philly matchup, taking over with 21 points against St. Joe's to tie a career-high in points. Clark scored 18 of his 21 in the second half, also adding six rebounds in the rivalry win.
• The Cheltenham native produced a 13 point, eight rebound effort against Richmond, 11 of his 13 points coming in the first half. 10 of his 16 points against UMass also came in the first half, scoring four of his six points in the second half against the Minutemen in the final two minutes of the game.
• Clark has been trending upwards over the course of the last month, tallying double-digits in four games in the month of January. He's second on the team in points per game in the month with 13.3 points.

 
PHILLY LIVIN'

• The Explorers spent their nonconference campaign in and around the city of Philadelphia. Only playing three road games before A-10 action, the Explorers traveled no further than Lewisburg, Pa. for any of their away trips.
• The Fordham Rams broke a five-game win streak inside Tom Gola Arena, the only other loss coming in the home opener in overtime to Sacred Heart. Since then, the Explorers have went on a five-game losing streak at home in conference play.
• La Salle leave the city for just the fifth time in its opening 19 games to start the season when it faces George Washington on Wednesday.

   
NICKEL AND DIMING 'EM

• Joining the Explorers from a two-year stint at Louisville, Josh Nickelberry surpassed his numbers during his time as a Cardinal. In 24 games, the junior registered 37 points. It took the junior just three games to record 41 points in an Explorer jersey.
• Nickelberry holds an Explorer-best 28 points in a game on the season, scoring his career-best mark against Holy Cross. The tally remains as the most points by an Explorer in a game since Isaiah Deas (31) in Dec. 14, 2019 against Morgan State. Nickelberry also recorded a career-high eight rebounds against the Crusaders.
• His second best two-game span of his early Explorer career, Nickelberry dropped 36 combined points in games against St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph's.
• Nickelberry once again led the scoring for the Explorers with 18 points against the UMass, finishing 7-12 from the field.

 
THE ART OF DEFENSE

• In their 2021-22 campaign, the Explorers are 5-3 when allowing less than 70 points and 1-9 when allowing 70+ points.
• La Salle held Army West Point to 58 points on 31.1% shooting, a season-low for an opponent in both categories until allowing just 55 points to FDU, holding the Knights to just 22.2% from the field in the second half.
• The 61 points against Army is the lowest the Explorers scored in a win since a Dec. 12 contest last season against Drexel, defeating the Dragons 58-48.
• The 74 points allowed to Penn is the most given up by the Explorers in a win, the first time claiming victory while allowing more than 65 points.
• In wins, the Explorers concede just 63.5 points, giving up 77.4 points in losses.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• The Explorers and Colonials meet for the first time in almost two years, having missed out on playing last season due to COVID-19 protocols.
• La Salle trails in the series history by a slight 23-19 margin.
• Over the last 10 meetings, the Explorers hold a slim 6-4 advantage.
• The last matchup saw the Explorers break a three game skid on the road against GW, defeating the Washington D.C. side by a 72-62 score line.
• La Salle is 1-2 against the Colonials under Coach Howard.