PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team (13-14, 4-10 A-10) claimed its second straight win, defeating the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (16-9, 7-6 A-10), 72-59 on Wednesday night. It is La Salle's second straight win over a top 100 team in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Daeshon Shepherd set a new career-high with 23 points, going 9-15 from the field.
Explorers' fans can follow the team on X/Twitter @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- La Salle started the game white hot from beyond the arc. The Explorers hit four three-pointers before the first media timeout. Shepherd began the contest going 3-3 from deep (14-9, LaS).
- Jhamir Brickus found Shepherd for a thunderous alley-oop to extend the lead to 16-9. The Bonnies scored the next eight points to put the score at 17-16, St. Bonaventure.
- The Explorers retook the lead via buckets from Ryan Zan and a triple from Brickus.
- The teams began to trade baskets, with Mika Adams-Woods scoring five for St. Bonaventure. Brickus and Shepherd countered with threes for La Salle (27-22, LaS).
- The Bonnies scored four quick points; Rokas Jocius cashed in a layup to give La Salle a three-point lead.
- For the second straight game, La Salle exploded to end the first half. The Explorers finished the period on a 9-2 run to take a 36-28 lead into halftime.
Second Half
- Brickus began the second with a runner to extend the lead into double-figures for the first time in the contest. St. Bonaventure scored the next six points to trim the lead to 38-34.
- Brickus and Jocius hit back-to-back buckets to stretch the lead back to nine going into the first media timeout.
- Following two free throws from the Bonnies, Khalil Brantley scored back-to-back buckets to stretch the lead to 47-36.
- Again, the Bonnies cut the lead to eight, but La Salle fired right back with four straight points from Shepherd. St. Bonaventure made another short run, again silenced by Shepherd (55-44, LaS).
- The Explorers ripped off 10 straight points, including back-to-back threes from Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi. Shepherd punctuated the run with a slam dunk to also set a new career-high of 23 (65-45, LaS).
- La Salle hit free throws down the stretch to keep the Bonnies at bay. St. Bonaventure only hit twice from the field in the final three minutes.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- La Salle has a 22-20 series lead over St. Bonaventure with the win.
- The Explorers have won back-to-back games for the first time since defeating Loyola (MD) and Lafayette in early December.
- Khalil Brantley set a career-high for assists against a Division I opponent with seven. He set his overall career-high against Division III Rosemont with 12.
- Daeshon Shepherd's 23 points are a new career-high for the guard. It is his fourth straight game in double-figures, he is averaging 17.8 points during that span.
- Jhamir Brickus scored 15 points to go with five assists. It is his 61st game scoring in double-figures and 31st with five or more assists.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers complete their three-game homestand with a battle against Rhode Island on Sunday at noon. The game will air on USA Network.
- It is the Black Out game for La Salle, fans are encouraged to wear black to Tom Gola Arena. Tickets are available to purchase here.
