La Salle Men’s Basketball: La Salle Tops St. Louis
By James Wicker
To start their Atlantic 10 home slate, the La Salle Explorers hosted lowly St. Louis University at Gola Arena Wednesday night.
In the home opener for the La Salle Explorers, they hosted A10 bottom-dwellers St. Louis. Both teams are coming off of conference-opening losses. The Explorers lost by 11 at Dayton, while St. Louis was dusted by 34 at home to Rhode Island.
A big story for St. Louis was the absence of leading scorer Jermaine Bishop. Coming into conference play already limping, this puts the team at a clear disadvantage in ultra-competitive A10 this year.
To start the game, Amar Stukes got La Salle off the mark with 4 quick points. It was that much more crucial other players were off to a hot start with star player BJ Johnson struggling early. Johnson started the game 0-3 from the field with 2 turnovers and needed a quick stint on the bench to regain his thoughts after seeing many double/triple teams in the opening round of possessions.
In terms of overall team size, the Billikens outmanned the Explorers. St. Louis pounded the ball down low with Welmer and Agbeko, giving the Billikens a 9-7 edge almost halfway through the 1st period.
After a run by La Salle that was fueled by Isiah Deas and Jordan Price, the Explorers took a 22-13 lead with 7:31 left in the 1st. The game looked like it could get away from the Billikens quick if they didn’t find a solution.
When asked about the impact freshman Isiah Deas has on the team, Coach Giannini was quick to praise his young guard.
"“Isiah was great tonight. The more he improves defensively, the more we can justify giving him big minutes in big games. This kid has a bright future with this program.”"
Travis Ford eventually got his team to dig in, and continued to pound the ball down low with Agbeko and received some key buckets from Mike Crawford to bring the game to 22-22 with just under 4 minutes left in the 1st half.
A rather unsung hero of the first half, Pookie Powell contributed many drives on the offensive end, constantly taking the ball to the hole and pressuring the St. Louis interior defense. Powell ended the first half with 10 points, La Salle’s leading scorer. Going into the half, the Explorers took a 33-26 lead into the locker room.
FIRST HALF BY THE NUMBERS
FG %- LA: 40%, STL 42%
3P%- LA: 14%, STL 25%
Rebounds- LA-22, STL-12
Offensive Rebounds- LA- 9, STL-1
Turnovers- LA- 7, STL-7
To start the second half, the Explorers were having no more of this being a close game. With Jordan Price starting the second half, the star power was flourishing for La Salle. Quick successive 3’s from Powell and Price brought the lead to 43-27 with 17:04 left in the game. The Billikens were looking deflated coming out for the second half.
While it was clear Travis Ford’s game plan was to neutralize B.J. Johnson, there was a clear flaw with dealing with Powell and Price’s abilities. Jordan Price was getting just about any look he wanted, and Powell was taking the ball to the rim at will with very little help defense in any instances.
Coach Giannini was also very praising of Jordan Price, his senior forward:
"“Jordan is such a leader for this team. Not only just the way he plays and leads by example, but the kind of guy he is off the court. The younger players really look up to a guy like Jordan, and tonight he showed why he’s so important to this team moving forward”"
B.J. Johnson then took his turn to make his mark on the game. After a couple of 3’s and some clear confidence on the offensive end, the Explorers opened a 25-point lead. This was all flowing in with Coach Giannini’s second half plan, which was some of the best basketball the Explorers have played all year.
After a couple of minutes of back and forth stagnant basketball, Coach Giannini decided to ride out much of the rest of the game with his reserves, with a comfortable 68-43 lead with 4 minutes and change left in the contest.
After a rather uneventful remainder of the game, the Explorers got out of their home conference opener with a 75-54 win.
GAME BY THE NUMBERS
FG%- LA- 45%, STL 42%
3P%- LA- 33%, STL 39%
Rebounds- LA- 38, STL-26
Offensive Rebounds- LA- 13, STL-4
Turnovers- LA-12. STL-17
Next: Temple Owls Basketball: Fixing Obi Enechionyia
Next up for the Explorers is a home tilt with Duquesne, while St. Louis hosts Davidson in their next conference game. After a 21 point home win to open their home conference slate of games, Coach Giannini, and his team will be full of confidence and will be sure to put the rest of the A10 on alert with their performances.