PHILADELPHIA - In another tightly contested Atlantic 10 contest, the La Salle men's basketball team was edged by VCU, 71-65, at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday afternoon. Senior Jhamir Brickus led the Explorers with 20 points while sophomore Rokas Jocius added 11 off the bench.
 
QUOTE FROM COACH DUNPHY
"Hopefully we will pay attention to our details. This is a really good league so every game is going to be an amazing challenge for us and we have to figure it out."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Explorers found themselves with another strong first half, this time heading into the locker room with a 33-30 lead over the Rams.
• Brickus led the way with eight points in the first half even though he was saddled with two fouls over the final 6:41.
• Sophomores Andres Marrero and Rokas Jocius each had seven points over the first 20 minutes of play.
• VCU came back in the second stanza and converted 54.2 percent of its field-goal attempts.
• The Rams opened up a 55-49 lead after a three-pointer from Kuany Kuany, but the Explorers responded with a run that gave the home team a 59-58 lead after two free throws by Khalil Brantley at the 3:03 mark.
• Unfortunately for the Explorers, the offense managed just six points over the final three minutes of action, as a dunk by Toibu Lawal with 1:36 to go gave VCU the lead for good.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Brickus finished with 20 points in the game going 7-of-15 and 3-of-4 from both beyond the arc and the free throw line.
• Rokas Jocius returned to form on Saturday, finishing with 11 points, going 5-of-7 from the floor as well as hauling in four rebounds
• The game featured 11 ties and nine lead changes.
• The Explorers forced 15 turnovers while only committing nine.

UP NEXT 

• The Explorers will travel across town to take on crosstown rival Saint Joseph's on Monday, January 15 at 4:00 p.m.
• The MLK Day game can be seen on CBS Sports Network.