In a game played at a breathless pace from start to finish, one that can be truly called a Big Five classic, La Salle stunned St. Joseph's, 90-89, last night.

The Atlantic Ten Conference loss dealt a blow to St. Joe's hopes of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, while the victory for the Explorers (11-13, 5-5 A-10) broke an eight-game losing streak against their city rival.

Afterward, La Salle coach John Giannini said it was probably the most significant win for his team in the four seasons since he became head coach with a mandate to resurrect a once-proud program.

"They earned it fighting through a lot of rough times," Giannini said. "They earned it through a lot of negativity. We worked our tails for those 40 minutes, but we've been working our tails off. That's why I feel these guys deserved it, and that's why I'm so happy for the individuals on this team."

La Salle pulled off the upset with deadly long-range shooting. The Explorers shot a remarkable 16 for 29 (55.2 percent) from three-point distance, enabling them to overcome the hot-shooting Hawks (16-8, 7-4), who lost despite hitting 63 percent of their shots and starting the game by making 11 of their first 13 tries.

"All credit to La Salle," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "They played with great emotion, and they got tremendous contributions from their bench."

La Salle rubbed out an 81-75 deficit with an 8-0 run that led to a white-knuckle finish.

Sophomore guard Rodney Green made several big plays down the stretch. He broke an 83-83 tie with a pair of free throws and gave the Explorers an 88-86 edge with a sensational dunk off an offensive rebound with 58 seconds remaining.

"Coach tells us to go hard to the glass, and that's what I did," Green said.

After a La Salle time-out, Kimmani Barrett made it 90-87 with a driving basket with 20.6 seconds to go before Tasheed Carr's layup pulled the Hawks within 90-89 with 10.5 seconds to go.

On a night when offense dominated, it was a steal by Green that ultimately sealed the win. Carr tried a spin move down the lane in the closing seconds before Green stripped him of the ball. St. Joe's had one last gasp after Green missed a free throw and committed a violation on the second. But the Hawks had only one second to inbound the ball the length of the court and squeeze off a shot. It didn't happen.

Sweet-shooting Darnell Harris led the Explorers with 21 points. He was 5 for 10 from three-point distance, some of which he took from Spruce Street, and became the school's all-time three-point king by breaking Donnie Carr's record of 308. Harris has 311.

Yves Mekongo Mbala had 17 points and Ruben Guillandeaux, who missed the previous two games with injuries, came off the bench to score 16 on 6-for-7 shooting.

La Salle also dominated the boards, outrebounding St. Joe's, 32-21.

St. Joe's got a career-high 26 points from Darrin Govens. Pat Calathes also scored 26.

For anyone who appreciates fluid, efficient offense, the first half was about as good as it gets as St. Joe's took a 50-46 edge into the break.

From the opening tip-off, the Explorers played with a carefree demeanor that suggested they were the heavy favorites instead of the Hawks. La Salle rained a remarkable 10 three-point baskets on the Hawks to quickly wipe away a 24-13 deficit that St. Joe's had built with a torrid start.

Things don't get any easier for St. Joe's, which squandered a chance to pull into second place alone in the A-10. The Hawks, who have five regular-season games remaining before the A-10 tourney, begin a difficult stretch run with their next game Sunday at Rhode Island. Then they play three of their final four games at home - St. Louis and conference leader Xavier at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse and Temple at the Palestra on March 2. Their other remaining road game is at Dayton, one of the toughest conference venues for visitors.

The Explorers have six games remaining, beginning with Dayton on Thursday at Tom Gola Arena.

To view a slideshow from the game, go to http://go.philly.com/photos.