City of Brotherly Love: Run LaSalle, Run

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2016 NCAA Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Final Four



Maryland (1) 84 vs. Wake Forest (2) 71



Kentucky (1) 74 vs. UConn (1) 64



National Title Game


Maryland (1) 72 vs. Kentucky (1) 57



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2015/2016 La Salle Season Recap

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Overall Record: 24-10


Atlantic 10 Record: 13-3


RPI: 44

Jeff Donovan drafted 44th in the 2016 NBA Draft

Dion Tyler- Atlantic 10 Coach of The Year
Richard Roach- Atlantic 10 Player of The Year
Richard Roach-Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of The Year
Richard Roach – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Gerrick Wright – Atlantic 10 1st Team




Recruiting – 1 scholarship, 1 pressing need. The aim of recruiting was to sign a point guard as Mike Williams is the only true point guard on the roster.

• Owen Evans is a 6’0 JuCo point guard from Wilmington, Delaware. His passing vision is his biggest asset. He will improve our point guard depth next season and will have a chance to start. Owen is the 58th ranked player in the country.
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La Salle 2015 /2016 Season Stats

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] PPG
1. Richard Roach 19.2
2. Gerrick Wright 11.4
3. Jeff Donovan 9.3



RPG
1. Keith Riley 5.8
2. Richard Roach 5.7
3. Jeff Donovan 4.6



APG
1. Mike Williams 3.9



SPG
1. Richard Roach 1.7
2. Gerrick Wright 1.1
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2016/2017 La Salle Explorers Roster

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Starting Lineup


*Denotes Returning Starter

Ruben Carter 6-0 Senior RS PG 2/4
*Richard Roach 6-6 Senior SG 5/5
*Gerrick Wright 6-8 Senior SF 4/4
Jesse Howe 6-7 Senior PF 4/5
*Keith Riley 6-8 Junior C 4/4.5


Bench


Marcus Romar 6-10 Sophomore C 4/4.5
Clyde Nielson 6-11 Junior RS PF 2/3
Tega Lee 6-7 Senior PF 3/4
Owen Evans 6-0 Junior PG 2.5/4
Brian Stone 6-8 Junior RS SF 2/4
Dave LaRue 6-2 Freshman RS SG 1.5/4
Ben Anderson 6-0 Junior SG 1/3.5

Redshirt

*Mike Williams 6-3 Sophomore PG 1/4
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2016/2017 Non-Conference Review

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Before the season the decision was made to redshirt Mike Williams. I felt I put him in an unfair situation last season as he wasn’t ready to be the starting point guard. He did quite an admirable job but with Owen Evans on campus I felt he could sit and learn for a season. To his credit Mike took it well as he’s the type to do what’s best for the team.



We would be the traveling Explorers this season as 6 of the games would be on the road, in addition we would be participating in the Maui Invitational. A trip to (23) Memphis would be one of the marquee games but the marquee game on the schedule would be a trip to Rupp Arena to face the 7th ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Though Kentucky ended our season last year we won’t look at it as a revenge game, it would be a measuring stick to see if we have improved or not.



In the offseason Owen Evans and Ruben Carter competed for the starting point guard role, Ruben won the job and in the first game of the season he dished out 7 assists in a 75-49 win over Idaho State. Marcus Romar came off the bench scoring 18 and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 95-69 win to kick off the Maui Invitational. Number 8 Wake Forest would prove to be a stumbling block in Maui, despite 28 from Richard Roach we fell 66-74.



At La Salle we have played some big teams at big time arenas, but playing Kentucky at Rupp Arena was a whole new level. For us to compete we would have to survival the Kentucky blitz, fortunately for us that blitz never occurred as we kept the game close throughout. In the second half our defense and experience seized the game. Kentucky scored only 23 points in the second half, while our offensive execution down the stretch was flawless. We scored on our last 8 possessions silencing the UK fans winning 74-69.



We finished the non-conference schedule 9-3 and ranked number 20 in the polls.
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2016/2017 Atlantic 10 Review

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]In an 82-68 win against Dayton to open conference play Jesse Howe was a stat sheet stuffer. He scored 10 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 5 assists, and got 6 steals. Back to back losses 72-93 at St. Bonaventure and 85-77 at home to Temple had me in a bad mood. This was the most talented team I’ve had but they have developed a bad habit of playing up or down to the level of competition. I told them on talent alone we will get to the NCAA Tournament, but the effort will determine whether the season is successful or not.

After a 71-79 loss at Fordham the team called a players only meeting, we were 2-3 in the league and seemingly on the verge of throwing a potential great season down the river. Whatever was said in that players only meeting seemed to work, we ran off 11 straight wins in the league making us one of the hottest teams in the country. We weren’t just winning games but we were dominated. The average margin of victory during the winning streak was 17 points per game.


We went 13-3 in Atlantic 10 play to finish the regular season with a 22-6 record and a national ranking of 15.
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2017 Atlantic 10 Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](1) La Salle Explorers vs. (9) Fordham Rams


Trailing 20-10 on the first half, I’d had already used 2 timeouts. Not only were we losing but we were sloppy. 9 turnovers in the first 10 minutes is not the way I want the team to start a game. The team was in a rut and in need of a spark. Trailing 56-51 with 7 minutes left Owen Evans provided the spark. He made a three with the shot clock running down to make the score 56-54. As Fordham tried to advance the ball Owen stole a pass at half court, he pulled up and nailed his second consecutive three to give us our first lead since early in the game. Jaraan Lightfoot scored 21 for Fordham off their bench, his three put them up 72-71 with 23 seconds left. Richard Roach was fouled on a drive to the rim with 3 seconds, he made the first foul shot but missed the second. Keith Riley tapped the rebound out to Gerrick Wright whose desperation three went in giving us a last second 75-72 win.


La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 24 points





(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (5) St. Joseph’s Hawks


Big 5 games are always tough encounters, we knew we couldn’t afford to start slow like we did against Fordham. The longer St. Joe’s could hang around the tougher the game would become. Gerrick Wright would not have to bail us out today, we came out the gates strong outscoring St. Joe’s 19-4 to start the game. At halftime we had a 42-29 lead, to start the second half we cranked up our pressure even move. St. Joe’s would turn the ball over 22 times, and we took advantage scoring 38 points off of their turnovers. With St. Joe’s succumbing to the pressure we were on the way to the final with an 80-52 win.



La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 32 points 6 rebounds.





(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (3) St. Bonaventure Bonnies

We had an easy game in the semifinals, on the other hand St. Bonaventure had to play a 2 overtime game against second seeded Duquesne just to get to the final. If we could get an early lead on them and force them to play catch-up than we would have them right where we wanted them. If the Bonnies had to comeback we knew they wouldn’t have the legs for it. So the strategy was simple, press them as soon as they got off the bus. Richard Roach and Gerrick Wright set the tone, getting steals on 4 of St. Bonaventure’s first 6 possessions. We raced out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. Midway through the second half we increased the lead to 25. St. Bonaventure were brave in their efforts but they simply didn’t have the energy to finish the job. A 79-64 win brought a second straight Atlantic 10 Championship.


La Salle Player of The Game: Gerrick Wright 14 points 6 rebounds 4 assists 4 steals.

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2017 NCAA Tournament



Midwest Region



2nd Round

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (4) La Salle Explorers vs. (13) UNLV Runnin’ Rebels



Demond Gordon came out firing for UNLV, three made three point shots in the first two minutes got UNLV started quickly. With UNLV being small on the frontline the early plan was to establish Jesse Howe and Keith Riley in the post. The duo scored 18 points in the first half. Jesse, Keith, and Owen Evans picked up the slack as Richard Roach and especially Gerrick Wright were struggling in the first half. Despite the struggles of our two leading scorers we were up 42-34 at halftime. Richard picked up his scoring in the second half while Keith continued to feast in the paint. 22 Turnovers doomed UNLV as we turned on the style winning 82-57. Jesse had 20 points on 7 for 9 shooting. Owen had 13 points off the bench. Richard and Keith chipped in with 13 apiece.



La Salle Player of The Game: Jesse Rowe 20 points.
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2017 NCAA Tournament



Midwest Region



3rd Round

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(4) La Salle Explorers vs. (5) Pittsburgh Panthers



Point Guard Cory Petteway is Pitt’s best offensive player, Richard Roach is our best defender. Before the game I decide to put Richard on Cory, shut Cory Petteway down and the Pitt team will get shutdown. On Pitt’s first possession Cory was called for an offensive foul as Richard took the charge. The second play was a carbon copy of the first meaning Pitt’s best player was in early foul trouble. With their floor leader on the bench we got off to a 14-2 lead. With Cory Petteway on the bench Pitt’s offense was lost, scoring only 23 first half points we took an 11 point lead into the break. In the 2nd half Cory due to the great defense of Richard never found a rhythm, he scored a season low 7 points on 2 for 9 shooting. Pitt finished with more turnovers 22 than made field goals 17. On top of his great defense Richard scored 25 points sending us back to the Sweet 16 with a 57-46 win.



La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 25 points.
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2017 NCAA Tournament



Midwest Region



Sweet 16

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](4) La Salle Explorers vs. (8) Purdue Boilermakers



We expected to play Notre Dame but the top seeded Irish were stunned by Purdue in the third round. Purdue hung around for a half, but in the second half we lit them up. Offensively they couldn't get anything as we were relentless in our press. On offense we couldn't be stopped shooting over 70% in the second half. The highlight play of the game was a block by Clyde Nielsen which lead to a Ben Anderson one handed dunk on the other end. a 90-53 win meant for the second straight year we would be one win away from a birth in the Final Four.


La Salle Player of The Game: Clyde Nielsen 12 points 8 rebounds.[/font]

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2017 NCAA Tournament



Midwest Region



Elite 8

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (4) La Salle Explorers vs. (3) Kansas Jayhawks



Hopefully the experience we gained in last season’s Elite 8 game would get us to the Final Four. The players remember the hurt from last season’s loss to Kentucky and were determined not to endure that pain again. Standing in the way of Final Four glory would be a damn good Kansas team. Led by point guard Ben Minaham they would be a tough out. I decided to use the Pitt strategy and had Richard guarding Ben. We got off to a decent start but slowly Kansas took control of the game, building a 24-10 lead I decided to take advice from my assistants and made two changes. On defense we fell back into a 2-3 Zone while offensively we decided to run more sets. A 16-5 run got us within 3 as the half almost was over. Kansas took a 34-29 lead into the half, we played poor but were only down 5. The thought was we wouldn’t play two poor half’s in a row, unfortunately we were poor in the second half. I tried everything, timeouts, switching offense and defenses, switching matchups but nothing seemed to work. At the four minute mark we trailed 68-39, I decided to remove the 4 senior starters. In a classy move even the Kansas fans gave them a polite applause. A 74-54 loss meant we would finish one game short of the Final Four for the second straight season. Gerrick Wright led the way with 14 points, while Richard Roach finished his college career shooting 3 for 18 scoring 8 points in the process.



La Salle Player of The Game: Marcus Romar 10 points 8 rebounds.

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2017 NCAA Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Final Four



Maryland (1) 68 vs. Kansas (3) 45



Louisville (3) 48 vs. UConn (1) 63



National Title Game


Maryland (1) 65 vs. UConn (1) 62




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2016/2017 La Salle Season Recap

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Overall Record: 28-7


Atlantic 10 Record: 13-3


RPI: 9

National Rank: 13


Dion Tyler- Atlantic 10 Coach of The Year
Richard Roach- Atlantic 10 Player of The Year
Richard Roach-Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of The Year
Richard Roach – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Jesse Howe – Atlantic 10 1st Team




Recruiting – We are going to lose a lot of talent due to graduation, because of that I intend to make all 5 available scholarships count and put them to use.

• Eddie Robinson is a 6’3 small forward from West Valley, New York. He has an eye for scoring and is a good athlete. Eddie is the 49th ranked player in the country.

• Aaron Slider is a 6’7 center from White River Jct, Vermont. He uses his great strength to carve out scoring chances in the post. His great hands allow him to get plenty of rebounds. Aaron is ranked 68th in the country.

• Pete Lutz in terms of size is the biggest player we have ever signed during my time at La Salle. Standing 7’0 weighing 293 pounds Peter is a native of Dallastown, Pennsylvania. Shot blocking is Pete’s strength as he blocked 4.5 shots per game his senior season. Peter is ranked 105th in the country.

• Ryan Jones is a 6’1 point guard from Chesapeake, Virginia. He is a deadly three point shooter and has very good passing vision. Ryan was ranked 296 in the country

• Matt Graves is a 6-1 JuCo point guard from Parkland, Florida. This scholarship was initially going to a shooting guard from Kentucky who was ranked in the top 40 players in the country. The guard didn’t get the necessary SAT score so his scholarship became available. We had Matt on the radar for a while and he had been interested in us since September so it was an ideal match. Matt can score and he can dish, ranked 29th in the country he will start at point guard next season.
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[SIZE="5"]La Salle 2016 /2017 Season Stats[/SIZE]

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] PPG
1. Richard Roach 19.1
2. Jesse Howe 10.8
3. Gerrick Wright 10.2



RPG
1. Keith Riley 6.7
2. Jesse Howe 6.6
3. Richard Roach 5.0



APG
1. Owen Evans 4.0
2. Ruben Carter 3.8



SPG
1. Richard Roach 1.7
2. Gerrick Wright 1.2
3. Jesse Howe 1.0
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