Washington, D.C. – In an exceedingly rare fourth matchup, the La Salle men's basketball team fell to Big 5 rival, the Saint Joseph's Hawks, 75-70 on Thursday night in the second round of the Atlantic-10 Tournament. The Explorers trailed by as many as 23 points in the second half, but La Salle exploded in the closing moments, going on a 24-9 run in the final four minutes to slice the lead to as little as three points. Despite the tremendous effort, the comeback fell just short.
 
The game is the final of head coach Fran Dunphy's career, as the Hall of Famer announced he would be retiring at the conclusion of the campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:

• La Salle held a 6-5 lead at the first media timeout thanks to four points and two rebounds early from Mac Etienne.
• Two quick threes from the Hawks combined with a 4:12 scoring drought put La Salle in a hole as both sides struggled to score. Ryan Zan broke the stalemate (11-8, SJU).
• The game became a defensive grind as both sides struggled to find the bottom of the basket. La Salle stayed in the game via gritty defense, but the Hawks extended their lead with baskets from All-Conference guards Erik Reynolds II and Xzayvier Brown. The Explorers called timeout, 29-18, Hawks.
• Zan and Deuce Jones nailed two huge back-to-back three-pointers to launch the Explorers back into the contest, 29-24 with 3:30 remaining.
• The Hawks scored seven of the last ten, including a buzzer-beating three to take a 36-27 lead into the half.

Second Half:

• McKeithan scored five of La Salle's first seven to keep pace with the Hawks, 43-34.
• Twice, Zan knocked three-pointers to cut the lead to six, but both times St. Joe's expanded the lead back to double-digits. The Hawks led, 59-44 with eight minutes to go.
• The Hawks took control of the game, building a 19-point lead with a 15-2 run.
• With the Explorers trailing 68-47, La Salle hit an 11-0 spurt to cut into the lead to ten with just two minutes remaining.
• La Salle knocked down six straight field goals to cut the lead to three points, 73-70 with four seconds left. Brown knocked down two free throws to ice the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• McKeithan finishes the season reaching double-figures in ten consecutive games and breaking 20 in his final three. He concludes his college career with 30 and 29 point performances, the two highest of his career.
• Zan reached double-figures for the first time this season.