PHILADELPHIA —
Khalil Brantley dropped a career-high 29 points and
Jhamir Brickus hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 31.3 seconds left in overtime to lift the La Salle men's basketball team to a 77-75 victory over Rhode Island on Saturday in its Atlantic-10 home opener at Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.
With the win, the Explorers improved to 1-1 in A-10 play and 7-8 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Explorers had a tough time in first nine minutes of the first half, as they trailed 23-12, to the Rams.
- But, the Explorers outscored the Rams, 24-8, over the remaining 11 minutes to take a 36-21 lead at halftime. Brantley led La Salle with 12 first-half points.
- In the second half, the Explorers increased their lead to 46-37 with 14:26 left after Daeshon Shepherd made a layup in the paint. However, the Rams managed to come back and take a 61-56 lead with 6:20 left by going on a 24-10 run.
- The Explorers continued to fight back and managed to tie the game at 71 with 3.7 seconds left after Jhamir Brickus made three clutch free throws after the junior guard got fouled on a three-point attempt.
- In overtime, Brickus scored five of the Explorers' six points in the extra period. He made a layup to give them a 73-71 lead, then hit the biggest basket of the game by knocking down a three from the top of the key to give La Salle the lead
- From there, the Explorers managed to make Rhode Island miss on its next two shot attempts, one of which was blocked by Hassan Drame, and force a turnover after Drame made 1-of-2 free throws to seal the win.
GAME NOTES
- Brantley's 29 points surpassed his previous high of 24, which he had in the Explorers' win against Howard on Dec. 29. The sophomore guard scored 17 of his points in the second half and added a team-high eight rebounds.
- Brickus finished with 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half and overtime.
- Brantley ended with 14 points and five assists. The sophomore guard has scored in double figures in four straight games and nine of the team's 14 contests.
- Shepherd made a big impact off the bench, scoring six points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Shepherd's eight rebounds were a career-high.
- Fousseyni Drame added nine points and eight rebounds for the Explorers.
- Anwar Gill paced the Explorers with seven assists and added nine points in the win.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers will hit the road Wednesday to face UMass in another A-10 contest at UMass. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
