Angry at losing now, Explorers will come back better next season

He would not take off his uniform. He would not remove his shoes.

His rage would not allow him to accept defeat in the NCAA Tournament. Not to Wichita State. Not to some Missouri Valley Conference team that merited only a No. 9 seed.

Never mind that La Salle was a 13, and needed a play-in game to acquire that spot. Never mind that La Salle come out of the quaint Atlantic 10. Never mind that the Explorers last played in the NCAA Tournament 21 years ago, before Rohan Brown was born.

Never mind that, for much of this glorious 2012-13 season just ended, Rohan Brown, a freshman forward on a guard-powered team, mattered about as much as the mascot.

None of these facts entered his consciousness.

No; in that moment on Thursday night, Brown knew only that La Salle lost in the Sweet 16 to a team it might have beaten had he and La Salle's other post player, Jerrelle Wright, played better defense and rebounded more effectively.

And he knew this: Next season will be different.

Will it ever.

It will be even better.

It will be so, because, for the first time in 2 decades, the La Salle men's basketball players get angry when they lose.

For the first time in forever, winning is not seen as an attainable goal.

It is seen as an inalienable right.

And, so, smoldering dejection pervaded La Salle's locker room Thursday night.

Point guard Tyreek Duren, the best in the city, snarled at suggestions that La Salle should be pleased with three tournament wins after having none in 23 years.

Reserve guard Tyrone Garland, who finally spurred La Salle's offense against Wichita, snorted at the intimation that La Salle was suffering the kind of temporary disappointment that evaporates when the team plane lands and the players find themselves celebrated as Cinderellas for weeks to come; maybe years.

They will comprise the best backcourt in the conference next season.

They did not take off their uniforms, either.

Sam Mills, a defensive stopper all season and a defensive revelation down the stretch, mixed disbelief with his anger. He managed to get his ankles untaped.

D.J. Peterson, waifish as small forwards go, absorbed extreme physical abuse the past 2 weeks. He was furious that it ended. Mills had to cut the tape from Peterson's feet; Peterson, staring at the floor, could not manage it.

No one had better reason for fury than Wright, a makeshift center, overmatched by Wichita senior Carl Hall, who scored 12 points on Wright before 5 minutes elapsed. Wright was overmatched, and unsupported; his teammates never arrived in time to help. By the second half, La Salle coach John Giannini had to substitute Rohan Brown for Wright to put Brown on Hall to play defense. Afterward, Wright could barely speak, as he drowned in his choking anger and frustration.

To a man, the Explorers refused to accept the end of this season's love-in, this season's family experience.

Well, not every man.

Ramon Galloway, their star scorer and the only significant loss to graduation, was happy. He was happy because his presence created this environment.

Galloway transferred back to Philadelphia from South Carolina two seasons ago. He was the head of the Philly phalanx that became, at times, impossible to defend. Duren, from Neumann-Gorretti, ran the show. Garland, a Bartram star who sat out the first semester as a transfer from Virginia Tech, served as the X-factor.

It was Galloway, though, who led the team. Kept them loose. Hit 30-foot three-pointers.

Made them significant, with 17.2 points per game and an indefatigable personality.

Made them furious at the prospect of a loss.

Even a guy like Rohan Brown. You see, not only is Brown a freshman, he had played as many as 17 minutes only twice before. He averaged half that many this season.

Galloway's arrival, and his 1,023 points in two seasons, helped La Salle win at least 20 games for the first time since 1988-1990.

Galloway's arrival justified the anger.

Next season, even without him, La Salle will expect to win.

Next season, they will be furious every time they don't.

From Rohan Brown on up.

Email: hayesm@phillynews.com

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