PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team's comeback effort fell just short against the Duquesne Dukes, 67-62 on Wednesday night. The Explorers trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, but made a valiant comeback effort, trimmed the lead to one point with 1:30 left in the contest.
Head coach
Fran Dunphy became the 34
th coach in NCAA Division I history to coach 1000 games. Dunphy was honored before the game in a ceremony to celebrate his 1000
th game, as well as his retirement at the conclusion of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:
- Duquesne got out to an early lead, scoring the first 12 points of the game. La Salle responded, adding nine of the next 12 to get back in the contest.
- The teams exchanged blows, with the Dukes holding a 23-15 lead following a three.
- La Salle scored seven straight points at the charity stripe to cut the lead to one, 23-22, with 2:30 left in the half.
- After Duquesne scored five straight points, Corey McKeithan sunk a three pointer as time expired in the half to slice the lead to three points, 28-25.
Second Half:
- The Dukes rolled out of the half, kicking off on an 8-3 run to secure a 36-28 lead by the first media timeout.
- The teams battled, trading baskets for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Daeshon Shepherd knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the lead back to single-digits with 9 minutes to go.
- With five minutes remaining, La Salle made a critical six straight points cumulating in a Shepherd dunk with cut the lead to five points, 53-48.
- Duquesne knocked down a jumper to extend the lead to seven, but Jones came right back to score four straight to slash the lead to just three points for the first time since the first minute of the second half.
- La Salle continued to outpace Dukes as the clock neared two minutes. Shepherd knocked down a free throw to cut the lead to one with 2:23 left on the board.
- The Explorers could not complete the comeback, failing to close the gap in the end, 67-62.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Jones scored 14 points, his fourth straight game scoring at least 14 points.
- McKeithan added 14 points for his fifth consecutive game scoring double-figures.
NEXT UP
La Salle will hit the road to face George Washington on Saturday, March 1 at 6 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.