Explorers bitten by Spiders

If that were the case, this one would have been titled "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Only, there wasn't a lot of good.

Not unless you're a fan of Richmond, or the locals the team has in coach Chris Mooney (Archbishop Ryan, Princeton), or star player Dan Geriot (Springfield, Delco). This one was just plain bad and ugly as the Spiders pulled out a 75-74, triple-overtime win yesterday over the Explorers.

"I don't know if I've ever had a harder loss, for three reasons," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "No. 1, we had the lead late and the ball, which is a really sad way to lose the game. No. 2, and most importantly, our kids keep working hard. We've lost some games but these kids have stuck with us and it's very difficult not to see them rewarded. And the third reason is we just completely shoot ourselves in the foot, over and over and over again. We'll find a way to stay in there, but we'll also find a way to hurt ourselves."

And yesterday the Explorers found plenty of ways:

* They had six more turnovers (12) than shots made (six) in the first half, when they fell behind, 29-17.

* They continuously let the 6-9 Geriot, who did not start, get inside for backdoor baskets as he posted a career-high 31 points (11-for-13 shooting) in 28 minutes before fouling out.

* They fed Darnell Harris enough so that he scored 14 points during a 4-minute span in the second half that gave La Salle a 50-46 lead with 5 minutes, 24 seconds remaining. Then, he shot only two more times in regulation, both forced.

Want more? How about a technical foul on Rodney Green (team-high 23 points in 52 minutes) with 3:23 remaining in regulation and his team up, 53-51? How about scoring a field goal with 5:54 left in regulation and then not getting another one until 3:15 remained in the second overtime?

And then, as Giannini referred to, leading 74-73, a turnover that led to the game-winning dunk by Gaston Moliva with 21.6 seconds remaining.

You get the picture.

"This is tough," said Harris, who finished with 21 points in 51 minutes. "We've just got to find a way to win tight games. We've just got to come in and keep working and try to come out with a win."

They certainly had chances yesterday. Two free throws by Harris with 39.6 seconds left in regulation gave La Salle a 57-55 lead. But Geriot again got free underneath, was fouled and canned both shots with 21.5 seconds left to force the first overtime. When he fouled out with 2:22 to go in that OT and his team up three, La Salle (4-9, 0-1) took advantage and was able to force another overtime.

"We focused a lot on post offense, posting hard and trying to get closer to the block," Geriot said. "I thought I'd be able to do that because of their lack of height. My teammates were able to throw it in a lot."

The second overtime had Richmond's Ryan Butler, who had one point to that time, score all six Spiders points. A deep three by La Salle freshman Kyle Griffin with 53.3 left sent the game into its third overtime, where all of the small mistakes caught up with Explorers, which made for a sweet homecoming for Geriot and Mooney.

"I thought that was a good win for us, it certainly wasn't the prettiest game played," said Mooney, whose team is 8-6, 1-0. "This is great for us because this [Philadelphia] is a great place. We're staying here because we play Saint Joseph's on Saturday, so we're going to practice at the Palestra [today]. It's a great place and it's special to be here and to play well."

"Well" might be too strong a word, but good enough to win. Which is what Giannini continues to look for from his team.

"What's most disappointing is the losses," he said. "It's just so painful that we don't cut the right way, or we'll throw the ball to the wrong option, or we'll go for a steal when we're told not to. They're just small things. But the small things really are our downfall.

As matinees go, Giannini's not hoping for a sequel. *