PHILADELPHIA - For the second time in as many games this season, the La Salle men's basketball defeated Big 5 rivals Saint Joseph's. The Explorer defense proved the difference, holding the Hawks to 12 points in the second half to defend Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center for a 49-48 win on Wednesday evening.

The Explorers grabbed their second double-digit comeback win in as many games, moving to 9-18 on the season and 4-13 in conference play. The victory also moved La Salle to 2-2 on the season in Big 5 games. Saint Joseph's fell to 10-18 (4-13 Atlantic 10) in defeat.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The visitors got off to a strong start, similar to the matchup back at Hawk Hill earlier in the season, opening the game on a 12-3 run.
• Josh Nickelberry hit a step back jumper and a triple on back-to-back possessions to narrow the margin to 12-8. The Hawks with eight straight points before Khalil Brantley finished at the rack to stop the run.
• Despite cutting the deficit to as little as six, the Explorers fell victim to a hot-shooting Hawk team in the first half that extended their advantage to as much as 13 as they entered the locker room at the break up 36-24.
• Neither team scoring in the opening two minutes of the second period, Taylor Funk finally connected to extend the Hawk advantage to 15. Anwar Gill retaliated with a triple of his own, draining his second deep ball of the game to spark an 11-2 run in favor of the side from 20^th and Olney.
• La Salle extended the run to 21-6, holding the Hawks to just 3-21 (14.3%) from the field in that run. Nickelberry capped the run with a pull up jumper to tie the game with 3:16 to play, the arena rocking as the ball tickled the twine.
• With a chance to take the lead, the Explorers lost possession and gave it back to the Hawks, Erik Reynolds II connecting from deep to give St. Joe's a much needed basket to break the momentum, retaking the lead with 2:23 to play.
• After an Explorer miss, Christian Ray got loose of his man and grabbed his ninth rebound of the game, immediately finding Brantley on the wing. Brantley took his time, knocking down the three-pointer to again knot the score up with just over a minute to play.
• In a pivotal possession, it proved to be Clifton Moore to be the man to step up. Unable to find a rhythm on offense, the Ambler native asserted himself on defense throughout the game. With 50 seconds on the clock, Moore recorded his sixth and seventh block of the night in rapid succession, coming down with the rebound on the second attempt while getting fouled to get sent to the free-throw line where he would split the pair to give the Explorers a 49-48 lead, the first time ahead since they were up 3-2.
• More pressure on the defensive end saw the Hawks come up short yet again, Ray recording his 10^th rebound with 30 seconds to play.
• Nickelberry missed the first on a one-and-one at the line, giving the Hawks a chance at the final shot of the game.
• Ball pressure from Anwar Gill forced St. Joe's Jordan Hall into a tough fadeaway from 15 feet out, clattering off the iron before the Explorers swatted the rebound out of danger as clock expired to give La Salle its second 15-point comeback victory in the span of five days, defeating St. Joe's 49-48 in the final game of the season at Tom Gola Arena.

GAME NOTES

• Brantley led the Explorers with 11 points on the evening coming off his Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week award, recording five rebounds and two steals.
• Jhamir Brickus was the only other Explorer to reach double figures with 10 points.
• Moore, who failed to register double-digit scoring for just the second time in A-10 play, finished with five points, eight rebounds, seven blocks and three assists. His seven blocks tied the second-most blocks in a single game in La Salle history, two short of Aaric Murray's all-time record set in 2010. Moore also moved two spots up in the single-season all-time record list for blocks, surpassing Murray who sat in third and second, moving one block shy of matching Lionel Simmons' 1987-88 record of 77.
• Ray recorded double figure rebounds for the 11^th time of his career, adding four points with his team-high 10 boards.
• La Salle has recorded consecutive wins for the first time since December.
• The Explorers have registered three-straight winning seasons inside of Gola under Coach Howard.
• The 49 points scored in the win is the fewest since February 16, 1983 when La Salle went to Lehigh and defeated the Mountain Hawks 46-44.
• La Salle shot just 32.8% from the field on Wednesday, the lowest shooting percentage in a win since defeating Towson 57-51 on December 18, 2018 despite tallying just a 29.8% clip from the field.
• The Explorers held St. Joe's to 27.4% from the field, the second-lowest tally in the Coach Howard era.
• The 48 points scored by the Hawks proved to be the fourth time under Howard that the Explorer defense has limited the opponent to under 50 points, tied for the fewest conceded in his tenure.
• The Explorers won for the first time this season when trailing with five minutes to play, previously 0-16 when facing that late of a deficit.
• The 15 point deficit ties the largest comeback of the season for the Explorers, now achieving that feat in back-to-back games against Dayton and Saint Joseph's.
• La Salle was previously 0-7 on Wednesday nights this season.
• Ash Howard is 6-3 against the Hawks as the leader of the Explorers.

 
UP NEXT

• The Explorers finalize their regular season schedule with another Pennsylvania foe, heading west to take on Duquesne inside the new UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• The ESPN+ broadcast is set for 2 p.m.