La Salle throttles Fordham
Two games don't make a trend, and it's difficult to pass judgment on a team when the opponent is earnest but sad-sack Fordham.
Two games don't make a trend, and it's difficult to pass judgment on a team when the opponent is earnest but sad-sack Fordham.
But for the second straight game, or since a humiliating loss at Xavier last week that prompted a players-only meeting, La Salle played with energy and commitment to defense in an 86-61 rout of the Rams Wednesday in an Atlantic Ten Conference game at Tom Gola Arena.
Whether this is a legitimate late charge to at least partly salvage a disappointing season remains to be seen. The answer could be revealed Saturday when the Explorers (14-16, 6-9) end the regular season at Temple before moving on to Tuesday's first round of the conference tourney at an opponent's campus site to be determined.
The loss was the 17th straight for Fordham (6-21, 0-15), which has dropped 41 consecutive games in conference play dating to 2009. Reasons for such a poor record were apparent during the first 20 minutes, when the Rams shot 20.9 percent (9 for 43). They were 0 for 7 from three-point distance and turned over the ball 12 times during 20 grim minutes. Still, the Explorers defense contributed to Fordham's misery.
La Salle's primary task was to contain Fordham's Chris Gaston. The talented 6-7 sophomore went into the game leading the A-10 in rebounding (11.0 a game). Gaston recorded his 16th double-double with 19 points and 17 rebounds. He leads the A-10 in double-doubles and ranks 14th in the nation. Most of his points came after the Explorers had built an insurmountable lead.
La Salle answered Gaston with its own talented sophomore - Aaric Murray, who had 20 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Ruben Guillandeaux had 17 points and Jerrell Williams added 12 with five assists.
The outcome of this game was pretty much determined before the halftime break as La Salle went on a 16-4 tear to take a 45-21 lead. The Explorers scored almost at will. They had 50 points with 181/2 minutes remaining in the game. But putting the ball through the hoop hasn't been a problem for coach John Giannini's puzzling Explorers. It had been their inability to keep opponents from outscoring them that had led to their sub-.500 record.
Giannini seriously questioned the Explorers' mental toughness following the 100-62 loss at Xavier. Following that defeat, junior guard Earl Pettis and seniors Guillandeaux and Williams gathered in a hotel room and decided enough was enough.
La Salle responded with their best defensive performance of the season in Sunday's 72-51 win over Massachusetts. Following that game, UMass coach Derek Kellogg, who was a hard-nosed guard for UMass in the early 1990s, praised the Explorers for their toughness.