Men's Basketball | January 13, 2023
PHILADELPHIA — The La Salle men's basketball team eyes its third consecutive Atlantic-10 win on Saturday when it faces Fordham at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center. The game is presented by Steamfitters Local Union 420. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
The game will be televised on ESPN+, with Kale Beers and Rich Prendergast delivering the play-by-play and color commentary. Explorers fans can also listen to the broadcast through GoExplorers.com/watch. In addition, Explorers fans can follow the team on Twitter @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.
The game is also Family Day, which will incorporate the first Diaper Dash race for children ages 6-12 months. For more information on how to sign up your child for the race, click
here.
There will also be a pre-game reception at the Hideaway at Blue and Gold Commons. The Hideaway will open at 1 p.m. to all fans.
NEWS & NOTES
- The Explorers will go up against the Rams for the 64th time in program history. La Salle leads the series with a 44-19 record.
- The Explorers are coming off a pair of hard-fought wins, as they topped Rhode Island, 77-75, in overtime last Saturday at home and earned a 78-77 victory over UMass on Wednesday night on the road.
- In the Rhode Island game, Khalil Brantley scored a career-high 29 points and Jhamir Brickus made the go-ahead three-pointer with 31.3 seconds left to lift La Salle to the victory.
- In the UMass victory, Brickus matched his career high in points with 25 and Brantley blocked a shot on the game's final possession to seal the win.
- The Explorers will look to start 3-1 in A-10 play for the first time since 2016-17 when they went 5-1 to open conference play.
- The Explorers have three players averaging close to double figures in Brantley, Josh Nickelberry, and Brickus. The three guards combined for 35.8 points per game, with Brantley scoring 14.6 per game, Nickelberry chipping in 11.3 per contest, and Brickus averaging 9.9 per game.
- The Explorers are led by head coach Fran Dunphy, the all-time winningest coach in Philadelphia Big 5 history. A 1970 La Salle graduate, Dunphy sports a 588-333 career record and a 331-130 mark in conference games.
- Jhamir "Jig" Brickus has shown he can step up and score, as evident of his career-high 25 points that he scored twice this year against Penn and UMass.
- In the Explorers' win against Penn on Dec, 3, Brickus shot 9-for-12 from the field, including 6-for-8 from three, in 43 minutes. The Coatesville, Pa. native's six three-pointers made and minutes played were career highs.
- Against UMass, Brickus scored 22 of his career-high 25 points in the second half. He also matched his career high in threes with six — all of which came in the second half — and his season-best in field goals made with nine.
- Brickus came up with big plays in the Explorers' 77-75 overtime win over Rhode Island. He made three clutch free throws with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime. In overtime, he scored five of the team's six points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 31.3 seconds left.
- Brickus has scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games.
- Brickus has shot well from three-point range, as he ranks third in the A-10 in three-point field goal percentage at 46.3 (25-for-54).
- He also showed this type of scoring prowess against Georgetown on Nov. 20, when he had a game-high 14 points. All 14 of Brickus' points came in the second half.
- Brickus also has shown great stamina for La Salle, playing 32.7 minutes per game, which is good for 15th in the A-10.
- The matchup between La Salle and Fordham dates back to 1954.
- The Explorers have won seven of the last 10 meetings dating back to 2018. Those seven wins were part of a nine-game winning streak dating back to 2017.
- The Rams have won the last three games, but the Explorers only lost by single digits in each of those contests.
- The Explorers' 44 wins against Fordham are the third-most victories against one opponent in program history behind Saint Joseph's (57) and Duquesne (45), respectively.
SCOUTING FORDHAM
- The Rams enter the game at 13-4 and 1-3 in A-10 play after losing to Dayton, 82-58, on Tuesday at home. The Rams' 13 wins this season include Dartmouth (88-74), New Hampshire (79-61), UIC (79-65), Holy Cross (67-53), Stonehill (71-60), Harvard (68-60), Maine (72-67), Tulane (95-90), Wagner (72-59), Binghamton (77-62), Central Connecticut State (90-77), Virginia Military Institute (80-77 in OT), and Saint Joseph's (66-54), respectively.
- Besides the Dayton loss, the Rams' other three losses were to No. 10 Arkansas (74-48), Davidson (57-43), and Rhode Island (82-79), respectively.
- Last year, the Rams finished eighth in the A-10 and made the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament.
- The Rams have two players averaging double figures in Darius Quisenberry and Khalid Moore. Quisenberry leads the way with 16.9 points per game, while Moore has averaged 13.9 points per game.
- Fordham is led by Keith Urgo, who is in his first season as head coach for the Rams. Before coming to the Bronx, Urgo served as the associate head coach for Penn State for the past 10 seasons.
