PHILADELPHIA - La Salle kicked off the Blue Devil Challenge facing off against in-state Bucknell for the first of a three-game round robin. The Explorers knocked off the Bison by a final score of 69-57 at Tom Gola Arena on Tuesday night. 

With the win, the Explorers move to 3-0 on the season, the best start since the 2017-18 team also started 3-0.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It was a career night for the high-flying Daeshon Shepherd, scoring a career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting while also snagging nine rebounds. 
• Khalil Brantley started the game off strong, scoring 12 of his 13 points in the first half to go along with a game-high six assists and six rebounds to boot. 
• Andres Marrero shot the ball very well from deep, knocking down four three-pointers to give him 12 points on the night, and nine in the first half. 
• While his late game services weren't needed tonight, Jhamir Brickus put up an impressive 12 points, four assists, four rebounds, and four steals.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• After going into the locker room with a 33-28 lead, the Explorers jumped out to a 21-8 run to start the second half to 54-36 at the 9:49 mark of the second half. 
• The Explorers shot the ball much better in the second half, shooting 12-of-25 from the field (48 percent). 
• La Salle outrebounded Bucknell 40-35, a step in the right direction after being outrebounded 43-26 on Saturday against Northeastern. 
• The Explorers posted another positive Assist to Turnover ratio, going 17:11 on the night. 

UP NEXT

• The Explorers will be back at it again inside of Tom Gola Arena on Saturday when they take on Southern Indiana in the second game of the Blue Devil Challenge which tips off at 2:00.
• The game can be seen on ESPN+.