Philadelphia, PA - Behind 24 points from senior
Daeshon Shepherd and 23 points by freshman
Deuce Jones, the La Salle men's basketball team earned a 77-72 victory over FDU on Wednesday night at John Glaser Arena.
Trailing 70-66 with 4:15 to play, Jones scored nine straight Explorer points to give La Salle a 75-72 lead with under a minute to play. The Knights had a chance to tie the game late, but a pair of Shepherd free throws put the game away late.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half:
- The Explorers jumped out to a five-point lead midway through the first half and extended their lead to 29-22 with five minutes to play in the period.
- A feed from freshman Eric Acker to Shepherd for the alley-oop was the highlight of the first period, as Shepherd scored 15 of his career-high 24 points in the first half.
- The Knights rallied, scoring four straight points in the final minute to narrow their deficit to 36-34 at the midway mark.
- La Salle held a 24-19 edge on the glass in the first period.
Second Half:
- FDU quickly took the lead in the second half and went on an 11-0 run just three minutes into the second half.
- The Knights led by 10 points at 51-41 with 14:32 to play.
- A traditional three-point play by Jones got the Explorers to within two at 51-49 with 12:53 to play.
- FDU responded once again and took its second double-digit lead of the half at 68-58 with 6:32 to play.
- The Explorers responded with an 8-0 run to get within two at 68-66 with 4:15 to play, setting up Jones and the Explorers for the final run of the game
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Both Shepherd's 24 points and Jones' 23 points marked career-highs.
- Jones also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, including four offensive rebounds.
- The Explorers widened their margin on the boards in the second half, finishing with a 42-31 edge.
- La Salle connected on 13-27 (48.1%) of field goals in the second half and 26-61 (42.6%) of shots throughout the game.
Next up, the Explorers will take on Immaculata on Saturday, December 21, at 2;00 pm.
