Explorers' defense smothers George Washington

The La Salle Explorers put a defensive blanket over George Washington and didn't remove it until the game was over, holding the Colonials almost 20 points below their average to score a decisive 63-50 victory over the Atlantic 10 leader Saturday at Tom Gola Arena.

In ending a two-game losing streak, the Explorers ended the Colonials' six-game winning streak by holding them to just 39.5 percent shooting from the floor. La Salle, which never trailed, also forced the Colonials into a very uncharacteristic 20 turnovers.

Jordan Price led the Explorers (9-7, 1-2 Atlantic 10) with 20 points. La Salle also received 15 points and six rebounds from Cleon Roberts before he fouled out. Center Steve Zack finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, six points and a pair of blocks.

Reserve GW forward Yuta Watanabe was the only Colonial (12-4, 2-1) player to reach double-figures (12) in points.

La Salle couldn't have asked for a better start against the Colonials.

They jumped out to a 19-2 lead as the combination of their defense and sloppy play by the Colonials kept George Washington off balance for the better part of the first half. Those two points were, in fact, the result of La Salle's Steve Zack errantly tipping in a missed George Washington shot.

The Colonials finally scored their first field goal when John Kopriva converted a layup with 7:46 to play in the half. From their they played better for the remainder of the half, making of their final 7 shots and shots from the field to trail by 33-19 at the half.

The Colonials did cut the lead to 50-39 with just 8 minutes, 12 seconds to play. However, they would get no closer than that the rest of the game.