Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

La Salle holds off St. Joe’s

La Salle needed a victory in an effort to jump-start what has been a disappointing season. St. Joseph's simply needed a win.

Aaric Murray and La Salle held off Saint Joseph's for a 76-72 win Thursday night. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
Aaric Murray and La Salle held off Saint Joseph's for a 76-72 win Thursday night. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

La Salle needed a victory in an effort to jump-start what has been a disappointing season. St. Joseph's simply needed a win.

The Explorers accomplished their mission at the Hawks' expense.

La Salle defeated St. Joseph's, 76-72, in an Atlantic Ten matchup Thursday at the Palestra. The contest also counted in the Big Five standings.

The Explorers improved to 10-11 overall, 2-4 in the A-10, and 2-1 in the Big Five. They won consecutive games for the first time since November.

St. Joseph's (5-15, 0-6 A-10, 0-3 Big Five) lost its seventh straight.

Aaric Murray, Cole Stefan, Earl Pettis and Tyreek Duren played important roles in La Salle's win.

Murray, a 6-foot-10 sophomore center, finished with a team-high 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

Pettis, a junior guard, added 14 points.

Stefan scored all 12 of his points in the first half, making all three of his three-point shots. Duren, a freshman point guard, had nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Sophomore guard Carl Jones led St. Joseph's with a game-high 24 points.

The Hawks' C.J. Aiken showed why he came into the game as the nation's second-leading shot blocker with an average of 3.8 per game. The 6-9 freshman center had nine blocks Thursday to go with 11 points.

Early on, the game had its share of excitement. And St. Joseph's Idris Hilliard (13 points) had a lot to do with that.

Making four of his first five shots, the senior guard gave the Hawks a 14-9 advantage with 12 minutes, 54 seconds left in the first half.

Stefan later broke a 16-16 tie with three consecutive foul shots at 7:35 before intermission. On La Salle's ensuing possession, Pettis' three-pointer made it a 22-16 game.

That triggered a three-point contest between Jones and Stefan.

Jones nailed a three, only to have Stefan hit one at the other end. Then Jones answered with another before Stefan responded with a trey to give La Salle a 28-25 cushion with 4:28 left.

That sparked the Explorers' 9-2 run to end the half, giving them a 34-27 lead at the break.

La Salle opened the second half with a 14-3 run to take a commanding 48-30 lead with 16:49 remaining.

But the Hawks responded with a 15-2 run to pull within 50-45 with 12:49 left. St. Joseph's pulled within four points with seven seconds remaining.

It was La Salle's third victory in the last four meetings with St. Joseph's. The Hawks, however, hold a 62-52 all-time advantage.

Thursday marked the second of three straight St. Joseph's games at the Palestra. Penn defeated St. Joseph's, 73-61, in a Big Five matchup on Jan. 22. The Hawks will face Temple Owls there on Saturday at 11 a.m. That game will not count in the Big Five standings. St. Joseph's game at Temple on Feb. 20 will count as a City Series contest.