La Salle's defense falters in loss at Dayton

DAYTON, Ohio - At the start of the second half Wednesday, La Salle led by two against a Dayton team that hadn't lost at home in 13 games.

Five minutes later, the Explorers found themselves in an eight-point hole and on the wrong side of a roaring home crowd.

Block. Layup. Block. Layup. Block. Layup. With three straight defensive plays, the Flyers seized the momentum and the Explorers never recovered, falling behind by as many as 15 points before losing, 61-50, at University of Dayton Arena. The loss was La Salle's third in four games.

La Salle (9-8, 1-3 Atlantic Ten) limited Dayton (14-2, 3-0) to 35 percent shooting before halftime. But in the second half, La Salle drew bad fouls and allowed points under screens as Dayton shot 64 percent.

It was again a tale of two defenses, a theme that has plagued the inconsistent Explorers all season.

"They deserve a lot of credit, but we deserve a lot of blame," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "We're the strangest defensive team I've ever seen. We will hold people to the 30s or we'll give up 50 or 60 percent. We never play average defense. It's bizarre."

As the Flyers built their lead, La Salle's shots stopped falling. Amar Stukes, who started his third game of the season, was sent to the bench with his fourth foul with 12 minutes, 16 seconds left in the game. After scoring 7 and 13 points in his last two starts, he managed only four points before fouling out.

Starters Jordan Price, who finished with 13 points, and Jerrell Wright, who finished with eight, also scored below their season averages. La Salle's 50 points were a season low and lowest since Feb. 22 last season.

"It's unbelievably simple," Giannini said. "The stat sheet is pretty obvious. We had some bad offensive performances. When your best players don't make shots and it affects your defensive effort, you don't have a chance to win in a place like this."