La Salle University Athletics

Senior Forward Jerrell Wright
On his shot giving La Salle the lead:
“My teammates have faith in me. I felt like I had it when I took the ball and the dribble. It all about the team having faith in me taking the last shot.”
 
On comparisons to the second half vs. Virginia:
“The second half of the Virginia, our defense was the best that we have played this season. The first half we played pretty good defense, our shots just weren’t falling. They went on a little run, but we can’t say it was a bad first half; they only shot 35% in the first half. It was all about us getting in a groove on offense in the second half. We played defense the same but were making shots.”
 
On his final Big 5 game:
“It means a lot. Since I was in high school, I am a Philly guy, so I have been hearing about the Big 5 for a while. It has been a great experience playing in the Big 5. To win my last game, that means a lot. Coach G talks about the history; he makes us read about the Big 5, I have met a lot of people associated with the Big 5 that are hall of famers. This was a great experience and I am happy to go out with a win.”
 
On DeAndre’ Bembry:
“It is very tough [to stop him]. He can go inside, he had a monster dunk, and he can shoot outside. It is all about will on the defensive end. I have faith in my guards that they can get the stops that we needed in crucial moments. Overall, I think he did well today we just made the big stops at the end.”
 
On limiting Saint Joseph’s free throws:
“It goes back to practice, when we are in practice Coach G. calls every foul. Whenever you touch anyone, we have it installed that we don’t want to foul. We know that if we foul our man that we aren’t stopping them, they are still getting points that possession. We know if we play great defense we can win every game.”
 
Sophomore Guard Cleon Roberts
On his three-point shooting:
“Every time they doubled down Jerrell he either went up or found me open on the wing. He really had confidence in me and that gave me confidence.”
 
Coach G.
Opening statement:
“You talk about character wins, if you could put a picture in the dictionary next to character wins this game would go up. I think it’s the perfect example of a character win. We were down, they had a big lead, we weren’t playing well, we could have lost confidence and we didn’t. We kept fighting and chipping away at it. I couldn’t be more proud. It certainly wasn’t a beautiful win, it certainly wasn’t beautiful basketball. We had great will, we supported each other, we fought and we got it done. I am just thrilled.”
 
On Saint Joseph’s early three-pointers:
“The problem I had was who was making them. Stat sheets are easy to read and you can learn a lot just by looking at them. They’re good shooters; it was Miles and Bembry, the two guys you don’t want to shoot. We just weren’t very good in any way, shape or form in the first half. Our guys shook it off and did a nice job. For some reason our best players they aren’t doing what we all know they’re capable of for the whole 40 minutes. If they ever do, the key at any level is if you have three of the best guys wither it’s the NBA or DIII, if you have three high level guys and other guys who can play defense, know their role and win games, be smart and make shots you can be pretty good. Jerrell and Steve were preseason all-conference, everyone thinks Jordan can be an all-conference caliber player and Cleon is looking like that at times.”
 
On Cleon Robert’s outside shooting:
“Important, extremely. They are gigantic shots. Threes are a big deal. They were well timed and we wouldn’t have won if he didn’t make them.”
 
On Jerrell Wright’s first half:
“He was the one guy and I still expect more. He is such a good player and he is so strong. I think everyone in the gym expects him to make that shot when he takes the ball to the rim and you surprised when he doesn’t. Here is the thing, he was vomiting at halftime and cramping. What a tough kid and a courageous win. Talent is one thing, and this wasn’t a talent win. This was a toughness win and a character win. We had Jerrell playing sick and hurt other guys who were down that kept fighting and clawing to get the score down. I am very proud of our guys as people.”