PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team (15-15, 6-11 A-10) closed out Tom Gola Arena with a win, defeating the George Washington Revolutionaries (14-15, 3-13 A-10), 72-66 on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, La Salle ends the Tom Gola Arena era with four straight wins.
Jhamir Brickus,
Tommy Gardler, and
Anwar Gill were honored pregame for Senior Day. They are the final senior class to play in Tom Gola Arena.
Explorers' fans can follow the team on X/Twitter @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
- Gill opened the game with five points to tie the match up early. Daeshon Shepherd drilled a three, but George Washington scored the next five to give the visitors a 10-8 lead heading into the first media timeout.
- La Salle came out of the timeout with seven straight points, including five from Rokas Jocius to take a 15-10 lead. The Revolutionaries splashed a three, but Khalil Brantley quickly returned fire (18-13, LaS).
- The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes (20-17, LaS). Ryan Zan scored six straight points for the Explorers to stretch the lead to nine, 26-17.
- The Explorers kept the good times rolling, as Gill extended the lead to double-digits.
- Following a pair of free throws, La Salle scored six of the next eight points to expand the lead to 13, 38-25.
- GW scored the final five points of the half to set the halftime score at 38-30.
Second Half
- La Salle held the eight-point lead for the first couple minutes of the half via an and-one from Jocius.
- George Washington began to cut into the lead, bringing it down to three, but Jocius hit a three to put the advantage back at six (46-40, LaS). GW threw a counter punch with an 8-0 run to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half, 48-46.
- La Salle found its footing again, with a host of Explorers scoring to give the squad a 52-49 advantage. The teams began trading baskets again to give way to a 56-55 GW lead.
- Brickus and Brantley scored back-to-back buckets to take a 60-56 lead with 7:58 remaining.
- GW hit a jumper, but Shepherd caught an ally-oop from Brantley for a thunderous slam to build the lead back to four.
- The Explorers closed the game out with eight of the next 12 points, punctuated with an explosive put-back dunk by Shepherd to seal the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Anwar Gill scored 15 points, the most points he has scored since putting up a season-high 24 against Saint Louis.
- Khalil Brantley again put up a well-rounded stat line, with 15 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
- For the second-straight game, Daeshon Shepherd tied his career-high in steals with three. Shepherd also scored in double figures for the 7th straight game.
- Tommy Gardler made his first career start.
- La Salle doubled up GW in assists, 12 to six.
UP NEXT
- The Explorers close the regular season out with a battle at Loyola-Chicago next Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.
