PHILADELPHIA - Coming off of a triple-overtime heartbreaker to Temple on Wednesday night, the La Salle men's basketball team (6-2) was in the middle of yet another Big 5 thriller on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. In the end, junior Khalil Brantley banked home a long three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, leading the Explorers to an epic 93-92 overtime victory over the Quakers at the first-ever Big 5 Classic. 

"I feel like I let my team down in the Temple game, missing two free throws in the second overtime to give us the two-point lead and maybe seal the deal for that game," Brantley said. "After [the Penn player] makes that layup I'm like 'I got to do it for these guys, I got to figure something out, get the ball in the basket and win it for my team."

Brantley led six Explorers in double figures with 26 points, while classmate Daeshon Shepherd put together an impressive 19-point performance in the win. The win puts La Salle at 6-2 on the year, its best start since the 2014-15 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Both teams had outstanding nights offensively, with the Quakers shooting near 60 percent for much of the game.
• Clark Slajjchert led the way with 33 points, including 5-for-8 from three-point range.
• The Explorers trailed by eight points with 4:29 remaining before a dunk by Shepherd and a three-pointer from freshman Tunde Vahlberg-Fasasi cut the margin to three.
• A step-back three from Tyler Perkins re-bumped the lead to six for Penn, but the Explorers closed regulation on a 6-0 run to tie the game and force overtime.
• The two teams continued to go back-and-forth throughout the extra period. Slajchert connected on a pull-up jumper with just over a minute to go to tie the game, then drove for a layup with less than five seconds remaining, leading to the final game-winning sequence.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Senior Anwar Gill finished with a very balanced game, scoring 13 points as well as grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
• Vahlberg Fasasi was perfect tonight, going 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from three for 11 points.
• Senior Jhamir Brickus and sophomore Rokas Jocius both finished with 10 points, giving the Explorers six players to finish in double digits. 
• The game marked the first for the Explorers with six players scoring in double figures.
• Both teams shot the ball well, but La Salle went 36-of-65, good for 55 percent, and 11-of-14 from the free throw line, good for 79 percent.
• The Explorers narrowly won the rebounding battle, 34-32 including 23 second chance points on 10 offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT 

• The Explorers will be back at Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday night as they take on Loyola (Md.).
• Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 and the game can be found on ESPN+.
• A special $6.00 ticket promo is available to all fans, in honor of head coach Fran Dunphy winning the 600th game of his career on Nov. 26.
• A special pre-game ceremony will honor Dunphy, and commemorative stickers will also be handed out to all patrons who attend the game.