Fordham hands La Salle 20th loss
LA SALLE was searching for its best stretch since it started 3-0, which seems like a long time ago and probably feels like forever to the players and coaches. The Explorers finally have all their players back, but those three top-100 high school recruits, all transfers, won't be suiting up until November.
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LA SALLE was searching for its best stretch since it started 3-0, which seems like a long time ago and probably feels like forever to the players and coaches. The Explorers finally have all their players back, but those three top-100 high school recruits, all transfers, won't be suiting up until November.
Fordham was trying to improve on its best win total since 2006-07 under first-year coach Jeff Neubauer (La Salle Class of '93), but had been playing for five straight games without its second-leading scorer and had lost four of the five. Mandell Thomas, sixth nationally in steals, was back, but played just 8 minutes and did not score.
Everything is relative with this season's Explorers, who have dealt with six- and 10-game losing streaks and had won just twice since Thanksgiving weekend. Trying to win two of three (even if the middle game was a 40-point loss) may not seem like much, but when you are closing in on 20 losses, any good news - a lead for the entire first half, a working margin, solid defense for a time - is a positive.
When the game turned toward Fordham in the second half Wednesday night at Gola Arena and the Rams built a 10-point lead, a comeback, given all that had gone down, did not seem very likely. But La Salle kept playing, shots began to fall and they got a late lead. Alas, they could not hold it and Fordham made just enough late plays to win, 56-53.
"I thought we played our hearts out," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "I have great kids. I have kids that could be good pieces for us on successful teams moving forward. But we just clearly weren't good enough as a basketball team . . .
"We missed free throws and we had costly turnovers and we don't quite have the size to rebound the way we want, but we fought our guts out so I'm proud of them. Like I said, it's not their fault that we're not a little bigger or we don't have a little more firepower."
The coach has been on record as saying all that is on him. The Explorers got crushed on the glass, 38-25, and shot just 33.3 percent in the second half. Jordan Price and Cleon Roberts each had 13 points, but nobody else got double figures and it is hard to win any game without a 30-point half.
La Salle (6-20, 2-13 Atlantic 10) led 10-2 and 27-22 at the break. Fordham (14-12, 5-10) was playing passively on defense in the first half. That defense, which was good enough for 10 steals or more in 11 games, got much more aggressive in the second half, forcing turnovers and ratcheting up the pace.
The Rams quickly tied the game and took their first lead with 15 minutes left on a banked three from near the top of the key, not a good omen for the home team. The Rams really looked home when they led 46-36, but La Salle flipped the script and almost found a way. The Explorers actually had a chance to get to overtime, but Johnnie Shuler's three at the buzzer was long.
The coach loved the rally when his team strung together several threes.
"They didn't quit and they kept fighting and they made some big shots," Giannini said. "We had some fouls when we needed stops.''
And they had some misses when they needed makes.
@DickJerardi