Men's Basketball | December 5, 2023

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle men's basketball team returns home for a non-conference game against Loyola Maryland on Wednesday night inside Tom Gola Arena. All fans attending the game will receive a free commemorative Fran Dunphy 600-win decal sticker, in honor of his 600th career coaching win on Nov. 26. Fans will also receive a free schedule magnet.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Kale Beers and Rich Tarr delivering the play-by-play and color commentary. In addition, Explorers fans can follow the team on X @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.

There will also be a pre-game reception at the Hideaway at Blue and Gold Commons. The Hideaway will open 90 minutes prior to tip-off to all fans.

NEWS & NOTES

• The Explorers participated in the first-ever Big 5 Classic at Wells Fargo Center and came away with a heart-stopping 93-92 win over Penn in overtime.
• Exhibiting the same never-say-die attitude that allowed them to force overtime against Temple just three days prior, La Salle erased a six-point deficit with under four minutes remaining to knot the contest at 82-82.
• Both teams fought hard throughout the extra session, and it looked as thought the Quakers were going to come away the win after Clark Slajchert connected on a driving layup with less than five seconds to go.
• Moments later, junior Khalil Brantley became the hero when he banked home a three-pointer from near midcourt as time expired to give the Explorers the win.
• Brantley, who was named Atlantic 10 and Philadelphia Big 5 Co-Player of the Week, finished the game with a team-high 24 points and added six rebounds.
• For the week, the Bronx, N.Y. product averaged 26.5 points and 10.0 rebounds to earn weekly honors from the two organizations.
• Six different players scored in double figures in the game against Penn - Brantley, Daeshon Shepherd (19), Anwar Gill (13), Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi (11), Jhamir Brickus (10), and Rokas Jocius (10).
• The 11-point outing for Vahlberg Fasasi was a career-best outing, and featured a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the field (3-for-3 from three-point range).

SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYLAND

• The Greyhounds enter with a 1-7 record, with their lone win coming on the road in overtime over Brown on Nov. 11.
• Loyola also played an overtime game on Saturday, falling to Delaware State, 79-73.
• Alonso Faure came off the bench to score 16 points and block three shots, while Deon Perry added 13 points and a team-high seven assists.
• Perry paces the squad in scoring (13.4 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg), and is playing a team-high 32.1 minutes per game.

SERIES HISTORY

• The 33rd meeting between the two schools will take place on Wednesday night at Tom Gola Arena.
• The Explorers have a resounding 30-2 lead in the all-time series, having last played during the 1991-92 season.
• Both schools were members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference together from 1989-92, before La Salle left to join the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.