Men's Basketball | January 30, 2024

KINGSTON, R.I. - La Salle heads to New England for an Atlantic 10 men's basketball matchup with Rhode Island on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m., with a live broadcast available on ESPN+.

An online radio broadcast via goexplorers.com will be available, as Kale Beers will provide the play-by-play. In addition, Explorers fans can follow the team on X @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.

NEWS & NOTES

• The contest rounds out the month of January for the Explorers, a month in which it has gone 2-5 in Atlantic 10 play. 
• The Explorers snapped a four-game skid on Saturday with an impressive 80-70 road win at George Washington.
• Junior Khalil Brantley led the squad with 20 points, while senior Jhamir Brickus and freshman Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi had 19 points apiece.
• Vahlberg Fasasi set a new career mark with his scoring output and earned Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week honors as a result.
• The 6-8 forward used an efficient 6-for-8 shooting performance, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, to register the 19 points and also added six rebounds and three blocked shots.
• Brickus was impressive down the stretch, scoring 13 of his 19 points over the final 5:56 including a run of 10 straight points for his team to help secure the win.
• La Salle connected on 10 of its 19 three-point attempts and shot 30-for-61 overall from the field, while limiting the top scoring team in the A-10 to 70 points, over 11 points below their season average.

SCOUTING RHODE ISLAND

• The Rams enter having dropped their last four games, including a 92-84 loss to George Mason on Saturday.
• David Green had a game-high 29 points and connected on six three-pointers to lead four players in double figures for URI.
• Cam Estevez (15), Jaden House (13), and David Fuchs (12) also found their way to double digit points against the Patriots.
• House leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game, while Green - who has played in just eight games this season - is second at 14.5 ppg and is shooting 55.6% from three-point range.
• Rebounding is a big component of URI's game, as the team is currently outboarding opponents by a +4.5 margin which ranks second in the A-10. 

SERIES HISTORY

• The Explorers have won just 11 times in 44 meetings between the two schools, with a pair of those victories coming last year.
• La Salle defeated URI in overtime at Gola Arena and defeated the Rams in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
• Jhamir Brickus scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures in the last meeting between the two teams in Brooklyn.
• Daeshon Shepherd also had an impressive performance, scoring 15 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.