Men's Basketball | February 20, 2024

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team (12-14, 3-10 A-10) will face off against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (16-9, 7-6 A-10) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. It is Dollar Dog Night at Tom Gola Arena, with all hot dogs being sold for just $1. The game will stream on ESPN+, tickets are available to purchase here.

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/Twitter @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.

LA SALLE NEWS & NOTES

• La Salle claimed a massive victory over the Massachusetts Minutemen, 82-81, on Saturday.
• The Explorers shot the lights out in the first half, scoring 51 points and hitting 53.9% from beyond the arc. Daeshon Shepherd scored all 19 of his points in the first including a buzzer-beater to end the period. The guard is averaging 16.5 ppg over his last two contests.
• La Salle built a 71-53 lead midway through the second half, but UMass found its stride again. The Minutemen outscored La Salle 28-11 the rest of the way but fell short in the end thanks to clutch free throws from Jhamir Brickus.
• Senior guard Khalil Brantley scored in double figures for the seventh straight game. The Bronx native recorded his second double-double in ten days with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
• Brickus scored 19 points and passed for six assists. It was his 60^th career game scoring in double-figures and 30^th career game passing for five or more assists.
• Tunde Vahlberg Fasai and Anwar Gill scored 10 each. The team had five players score in double-figures for the first time since defeating Fordham on January 6.

SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE

• St. Bonaventure is 16-9 and 7-6 in the Atlantic-10. The Bonnies have won two straight and three of their last four.
• The team is coming off an intense overtime win over Davidson, 81-80, on Saturday.
• Forward Chad Venning leads the Bonnies in points with 14.0 per game, he also averages 4.8 rebounds and blocks 1.9 shots.
• Mika Adams-Woods runs the point for the team after spending the last four seasons at Cincinnati. The guard averages 13.6 points and 3.5 assists per game. He achieved national recognition after scoring 22.3 points per game over three matchups during the week of 12/9.
• Mark Schmidt is in his 17th season with St. Bonaventure, and 23^rd as a head coach. He is 380-312 in his career and 298-222 during his time with the Bonnies.

SERIES HISTORY

• La Salle and St. Bonaventure are longtime conference rivals. The Explorers joined the A-10 in 1995, while the Bonnies joined in 1979, three years after the conference was formed.
• The two have met 39 times on the floor. This is La Salle's closest A-10 pairing in terms of win percentage, with La Salle holding a one-game edge, 19-18 (.513).
• The two met last season at St. Bonaventure, with La Salle taking the win by a score of 76-70. Brantley scored 16 points, while Jhamir Brickus added nine points and seven assists.