La Salle Explorers notch their first Big Five victory over Saint Joe’s

By Chuck Booth | Feb 18, 2017

Dec 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; La Salle Explorers guard Jordan Price (21) in action against Villanova Wildcats forward Kris Jenkins (2) at Palestra. The Villanova Wildcats won 89-79. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

The La Salle Explorers welcomed the Saint Joseph Hawks to Tom Gola Arena for their final Big Five matchup of the season.

The battered Saint Joeseph Hawks [10-16, 3-11 A10] proved to be no match for the La Salle Explorers [14-11, 8-6 A10] who notched an 83-68 win. Led by Jordan Price (18 points, 5 assists) and Amar Stukes (15 points, 6 assists), the Explorers were able to end their losing streak in the Big Five while also rebounding from a tough loss to Saint Bonaventure earlier in the week. The Hawks were without four key contributors in this one and it showed in this one.

The issues with Saint Joe’s run deeper than their on court play as coach Phil Martelli pointed out that his guys also have maturity issues. In his post game presser, Martelli said,

“We have to get emotionally older in a hurry because they’re nice tough guys who are immature. I won’t give you the name but a player got a slight concussion yesterday from a teammate throwing a ball off of his face.”

The Explores got off to a hot start in this one with Amar Stukes, Jordan Price, and Pookie Powell all connecting on three-pointers to give them an early 9-2 advantage over the Hawks. That early run was all that the explorers needed to get on a roll as the offense looks to be returning to the level that it was running at prior to Powell missing extended time with a bone bruise.

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For Stukes, once the first shot fell he was off and rolling once he got the first one to go, he was able to keep it going en route to an impressive performance.

Saint Joe’s perimeter defense had no answer for the three-point barrage from the La Salle Explorers allowing them to connect on seven of their 16 attempts in the half. There were two things that led to these open threes, a hot start from Stukes and Price driving into the lane and drawing defenders then kicking the ball back out.

The Explorers were also able to hold the Hawks to a 36 percent field goal percentage in the half. Interestingly enough, the Hawks saw more of the ball in the first half, hoisting up three more shots than the Explorers but La Salle was able to make theirs count for more as they took a 44-26 advantage into the half. Only missing one of their 10 free throws in the first half isn’t too bad for the La Salle Explorers.

The second half began in the same way that the first half ended except that it was Jordan Price shouldering the scoring load and not Stukes. The La Salle Explorers were also able to exploit Saint Joe’s inside with the combination of BJ Johnson and Tony Washington. Little did the Explorers know, that the Hawks had some fight left in them.

Once Charlie Brown found his shooting touch after an ice cold first half saw him go 1-11 from the field the Hawks were off and running. The Hawks ripped off a 24-9 run from the under 12-minute mark in the second half until the under-three-minute mark that saw them draw within 11 points. But after coach John Giannini called a timeout to calm his guys down, the Explorers got back into a comfortable territory to extend their lead back to 14 and eventually get the win.

Next: Explorers are their own Worst Enemy in a Loss to Richmond

This win means a little more than the others due to it being a Big Five win over a rival school but it’s on to La Salle’s matchup with URI on Tuesday. Each win is important as the Explorers gear up for the Atlantic 10 tournament and Coach Giannini admitted that he looks at scenarios to see what the team needs to do in order to earn a four seed and a first-round bye in the tournament. For now, it’s time to keep moving.

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