Men's Basketball | February 11, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team begin a string of four road games spanning 12 days, starting with a Saturday contest against Richmond in a 6 p.m. contest inside the Robins Center.
 
Saturday's game will be on both ESPN+ and NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, Bob Black and Scott Ungerer on the call. Kale Beers will be on the radio broadcast found on the GoExplorers website.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• For the second time this season, the Spiders and Explorers meet in Atlantic 10 action, this time Richmond playing hosts inside the Robins Center.
• La Salle led by as much as eight in the first half of the initial meeting between the two sides, Richmond able to overcome to a two-point advantage at the break. The Spiders pushed the lead to double-digits early in the second, keeping the Explorers at bay for much of the second half for a 64-56 victory.
• La Salle split a pair of home games over the last week, defeating George Mason 83-78 before falling to Saint Louis on Tuesday in a 75-57 score.
• The Explorers will be on the road for a four-game trip over the course of the next 12 days, starting with the Spiders on Saturday evening, all four games against teams they've seen once already this season. The Explorers finally return home in a Saturday, February 26 matchup with Dayton.
• La Salle is still searching for their first win outside of city limits, six of their seven wins coming on 20th and Olney. The outlier was the opening win in conference play for the Explorers, defeating Saint Joseph's on MLK Day.
• Entering Tuesday's matchup with back-to-back games scoring 80+ points, the offense was never able to muster the same prolific heights against the Billikens. Held to just 35.6% from the field, the Explorers were unable to knock off one of the conference's hottest teams in Tom Gola Arena.
• A common theme amongst A-10 play this season, Clifton Moore once again shined under the bright lights, scoring a game-high 23 points - three shy of his career-high. The redshirt senior has now scored in double figures in all 11 Atlantic 10 games this season.

 
SCOUTING RICHMOND

• Richmond enters Saturday's showdown with their third home game in their last four contests, holding a 16-9 record and a 7-5 tally in conference play. The Spiders are off the back of a home-and-away trip with George Mason, each team winning by three points in their respective home games.
• The Spiders remain one of the best teams in the country at taking care of the basketball, eighth in the country with a 1.59 assist-turnover ratio. They also lead the conference in assists with 15.8 per game, 19th in the country in steals at 210 on the season.
• Jacob Gilyard continues to be the leader of the team, ranking first in the nation in assist-turnover ratio with a 3.78 mark and ninth in assists at 6.2 per game, also adding 12.7 points to his bag.
• Tyler Burton leads Richmond in both scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 ppg), while Grant Golden ranks second amongst the Spiders in those categories with 14.9 and 6.4, respectively.

 
LIVE AND DIE AT THE LINE

• La Salle has conceded 214 free throws since the beginning of 2022, 21.4 per game in the last 10 games.
• On four separate occasions in conference play, 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.

 
STATS OF SIGNIFICANCE

• La Salle is 0-12 when trailing with five minutes left in the game, having been unable to come back from late deficits thus far.
• The Explorers are 1-10 on the year when playing in games later than 5 p.m.
• Saturdays have proven to be the most successful day for La Salle, holding a 5-4 record.
• The Blue and Gold are 2-11 in games where they concede 70+ points.

 
MORE OF MOORE

• Clifton Moore remains as one of the premier shot blockers in the country, ranking 22nd in the nation in blocks with 2.57 blocks per game.
• The Ambler native is coming off a 23 point performance against the Billikens, three shy of his career-mark.
• Moore has scored in double-figures in his last 11 games, 12 times in his last 13. He's also recorded a block in each of his last 23 games, having recorded a block in each game this season and finishing last season with two-straight games.

 
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 snapped its home skid with a victory over George Mason.
• La Salle has only left the city just five time in its opening 21 games to start the season, next leaving in a four-game road swing starting February 12.

 
 
NICKEL AND DIMING 'EM

• 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.
• Nickelberry is one of three Explorers averaging double figures (12.4) in conference play.

 
DEFENDING DEFENSE

• In their 2021-22 campaign, the Explorers are 5-3 when allowing less than 70 points and 2-11 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 78 points allowed to George Mason is the most given up by the Explorers in a win, the second time claiming victory while allowing more than 65 points.
• In wins, the Explorers concede just 65.6 points, giving up 76.4 points in losses.

 
REBOUNDING RAY

• After 18 games, Christian Ray averages 7.2 rebounds per game to rank first on the team - also leading the team in rebounding in the 2020-21 season. The junior has posted three games with double-digit rebounds.
• Ray has now recorded 10+ rebounds on 10 occasions in his career, the rest of the team combining for 11.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Already meeting earlier in the season, the Explorers and Spiders run it back with Richmond holding a 22-17 advantage in the series.
• The Explorers upset Richmond on the road last season, earning a six-point win over the Spiders to break a spurt of six losses in seven games.
• The last two of La Salle's wins in the series have come through a road win in Richmond, winning two of the last three.
• Clifton Moore recorded a 19 point, 12 rebound double-double the last matchup, La Salle holding a two-point deficit at the break before a late Spider surge held off the Explorers.
• La Salle is 2-4 against the Spiders under Coach Howard.