Men's Basketball | March 4, 2022

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team faces Duquesne on the road in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, March 5, riding a two-game win streak into the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
The Explorers (9-18, 4-13 A-10) are on a high after defending Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center twice the past week, completing two double-digit comeback bids against Dayton and Saint Joseph's. Duquesne (6-22, 1-15 A-10) come off of a triple overtime defeat inside the nation's capital, falling to George Washington its last time out.
 
The 2 p.m. showdown can be streamed on ESPN+, with an audio broadcast with Kale Beers also available on the GoExplorers website.
 
NEWS & NOTES

• La Salle heads west to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne in the regular season finale, entering the game on a two-game win streak after defending Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center against Dayton and Saint Joseph's.
• The Explorers were able to escape a statistical black hole against Saint Joseph's, grabbing their first win on a Wednesday (previously 0-7) and overcoming a deficit with five minutes remaining after failing to win a game when trailing late in the previous 16 attempts.
• The home team has one the matchup the last five games between the Explorers and Dukes, the Blue and Gold looking for their first win in Pittsburgh since the 2013-14 season.
• For the second-straight game, the Explorers recovered from a 15-point deficit in the second half in the win over the Hawks. After grabbing their biggest win of the season last Saturday against Dayton, the Explorers saw a similar outcome against St. Joe's. La Salle allowed just 12 points on 15.6% shooting in the final half, earning a regular season sweep over its Big 5 foe.
• Khalil Brantley comes off the first Rookie of the Week award in the Atlantic 10 since the 2011-12 season when Jerrell Wright garnered the plaudits twice.
• Clifton Moore recorded five of his seven blocks against Saint Joseph's in the last seven minutes, joining Lionel Simmons and Ron Barnes on the leaderboard, two shy of Aaric Murray's 2010 record.
• La Salle looks to enter the conference tournament on a three-game win streak, what would be just the second time accomplishing the feat this season.

 
SCOUTING DUQUESNE

• The Dukes celebrate their senior day when the Explorers roll to town, entering the matchup with a 6-22 record. After opening Atlantic 10 with a win over UMass, Duquesne has now been winless in its last 15 games heading into the final day of the season.
• The Dukes are one of the cleanest teams in the country, ranking fifth in the country by only giving up 13.5 fouls per contest. However, Duquesne ranks near the bottom of the NCAA in multiple categories, including field goal percentage, assists per game and scoring offense.
• Four players average double-figures for the Dukes, led by both Tre Williams and Amir "Primo" Spears with 10.8 points. Williams leads the team with 54 blocks, ranking 42nd in the country. Spears is the assist leader on the team with 75, tied for a team-high with 32 steals with Kevin Easley, Jr.
• Easley, Jr. averages 10.4 points per contest, pacing the Dukes with a team-best 6.4 rebounds. Leon Ayers finalizes the group with 10.0 points per game.

 
GROUNDING THE HAWKS

• In the final home game of the season, the Explorers downed the Hawks for the second time on the season, backing up their win on Hawk Hill a month and a half ago.
• In similar fashion of the first outing, the Explorers fell in a double-digit first half defict, entering the break with a 12 point deficit. A stingy defense held the Hawks to 15.8% from the field and 12 points in the second half, needing just 49 points to defeat St. Joe's in a 49-48 win.
• The 49 points was the fewest in a win since February 16, 1983 when La Salle defeated Lehigh on the road, 46-44.
• The Explorers held St. Joe's to 27.4% from the field, the second-lowest opponent shooting percentage under Coach Howard.The 48 points also tied for the fewest allowed under Howard's teams.
• The win proved to be the first time that La Salle won this season after trailing with five minutes to play, previously 0-16 on the campaign. The Explorers also entered 0-7 on Wednesday before completing the series sweep.

 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

• After an impressive showing over the course of the last week, Khalil Brantley was selected as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for Feb.28. The freshman recorded 14.5 points per game and secured three rebounds per contest on the week, shooting 10-18 (55.6%) from the field.
• In his homecoming to the Bronx, Brantley was one of two Explorers to add double figures against Fordham to finish with 12 points, three rebounds and a steal.
• Brantley followed the performance up with a team-high 17 points against Dayton, 15 coming in the second half. The rookie of the week helped surmount a 15 point second half deficit against the Flyers to protect home court. 
• It is the first Rookie of the Week honor since Jerrell Wright won the award twice in the 2011-12 season.

 
COMEBACK KIDS

• The Explorers have now registered two-straight games overcoming a 15-point deficit in the second half. After securing their biggest win of the season against Dayton on Senior Day, the Explorers again came back against the odds to defeat Big 5 rivals Saint Joseph's in the home finale.
• Being held to 19 first half points against the 11th ranked defense in the country, the La Salle offense exploded for 43 second half points, including a 17-0 run to upset the Flyers.
• La Salle used a completely different way to battle back against the Hawks, allowing just 12 points in the second half on 15.8% shooting. Only shooting 32% from the field, the Explorer defense locked down St. Joe's to allow the joint-fewest points in the Coach Howard era.

 
BLOCK PARTY

• Clifton Moore has had an exceptional 2021-22, by far proving to be the best campaign of his career. The redshirt-senior leads the team with 76 blocks, Anwar Gill the next closest with 11 blocks.
• Moore's 76 blocks has singlehandedly nearly matched the opponent in swats this season, La Salle opposition only recording 78 blocks on the year.
• A seven block performance shot Moore up the all-time list, surpassing both of Aaric Murray's marks to plant him one block short of tying Lionel Simmons' program record of 77 set in 1987-88, Simmons playing in 34 games that season.
• Clifton has also entered into the top 10 in career blocks, recording 109 blocks over his two years as an Explorer. Moore sits fifth all-time in career blocks, 11 shy of Rasual Butler's 120.

 
BLOCKED SHOTS - SEASON
No.        Name    YEARS
77           Lionel Simmons 1987-88
76           Clifton Moore    2021-22
73           Aaric Murray      2010-11
70           Aaric Murray      2009-10
65           Lionel Simmons 1989-90
61           Lionel Simmons 1988-89
 
NIGHT AND DAY, HOME AND AWAY

• A tale of two teams, the Explorers have seen different results in both day and night games, and home and away games.
• At home, the Explorers are 8-7, shooting the ball at a 43.1% clip, 33.2% from deep while holding opponents to 41.2% from the field and 34.7% from three.
• Conversely, on the road La Salle sees its average dip to 39.5% and 29.5%, opponents hitting at a rate of 46.5% and 39.0%.
• The Explorers are 7-6 in games played during the day, 2-12 in games played at night.

 
MORE OF MOORE

• Clifton Moore has been a black hole at the rim for Explorer opponents, ranking 13th in the nation in blocks with 2.81 blocks per game.
• With seven blocks against St. Joe'st, 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 seven blocks in a game are second-most in program history, joining Lionel Simmons (1988) and Ron Barnes (1985).
• After opening the conference with 14 straight games of double-digit scoring, Moore has now recorded double figures in 15 of 17 A-10 games, ranking ninth in Atlantic 10 action with 15.9 ppg.

 
GETTIN' JIGGY WITH IT

• Jhamir "Jig" Brickus has now scored in double-digits in 10 of his 25 games this season, averaging 9.2 points per game on the year.
• Brickus ranks just outside the top 10 in conference in assists, ranking 12^th at 3.4 dimes per game.

 
KHALIL IS KEY

• Over the past three games, Khalil Brantley has averaged 13.3 points and 3.7 rebounds, helping upset Dayton inside Tom Gola Arena with 17 points on 6-10 shooting. Brantley also scored a team-high 11 points in yet another comeback win over St. Joe's.

 
DEFENSE WINS GAMES

• In their 2021-22 campaign, the Explorers are 7-4 when allowing less than 70 points and 2-14 when allowing 70+ points.
• La Salle held St. Joe's to 48 points and 27.8% from the field, both season lows for Explorer opponents.
• 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 62.9 points, giving up 76.5 points in losses.

 
RAY THE RELIABLE

• After 25 games, Christian Ray averages 7.0 rebounds per game to rank first on the team - also leading the team in rebounding in the 2020-21 season. The junior has posted five games with double-digit rebounds.
• Ray has now recorded 10+ rebounds on 11 occasions in his career, the rest of the team combining for 11.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• The Explorers hold a 10-game advantage over the Dukes in the series history, 44-34 all-time against Duquesne heading into the 79th meeting between the two.
• The home team has won the last five games of the series, La Salle cruising to a 20-point victory inside of Gola last season.
• Jhamir Brickus posted 17 points and six assists in last season's win, while Christian Ray had a monstrous 14 point, 14 rebound performance.
• Ash Howard is 2-1 all-time against the Dukes, the only blip coming in the 2019-20 season in Pittsburgh.
• The series dates back to 1940, La Salle falling in overtime to Duquesne in a 27-23 defeat.