City of Brotherly Love: Run LaSalle, Run

[TheShow23]

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2025 Atlantic 10 Tournament[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"](1) La Salle Explorers vs. (8) St. Joseph's Hawks

First four possessions of offense went like this, Grant Petion made 3, Jabari Herrion made 3, Jabari made 3, Grant made 3. Before St. Joes knew what hit them we were already up 12-0. Making 12-24 from three we cruised into the semifinals with an 82-54 victory. Jabari scored 20 points hitting 4 threes while Grant scored 17 with 5 threes.



La Salle Player of The Game: Jabari Herrion 20 points 6 assists.





(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (4) UMass Minutemen


Against UMass we never trailed, up 37-21 at halftime we coasted the rest of the way in route to a 66-56 win. The final score did not reflect the easy nature of the game. Chris Dawson had a good all around game, 17 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals, and 3 assists.



La Salle Player of The Game: Chris Dawson 17 points 9 rebounds 3 blocks 3 assists 3 steals.




(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (3) Xavier Musketeers



Xavier came into the game on the bubble, knowing if they lost they might miss out on the NCAA Tournament. In the first half they out worked us, every hustle play was going their way. The telling sign was despite that we went into the break with a 32-28 lead. After taking their best shot it was our turn to hit them with shots, to start the second half we went on a 14-3 run. After that we never looked back in route to a 71-53 win. Brian Willis had 13 and 10, Chris Dawson and Jabari Herrion had 14 points each.


La Salle Player of The Game: Brian Willis 13 points 10 rebounds.[/font]

[TheShow23]

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2025 NCAA Tournament


West Region



2nd Round


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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (14) Niagara Purple Eagles

Last season we were notorious for our slow starts in the tournament, this game we did not have any problems with the start. Jabari Herrion was the QB of a lethal fast break attack, it seemed after every missed shot we were off an running. Niagara couldn't keep up as we led 40-23 at halftime. We scored 34 fast break points in route to a 81-52 win. Jonathan Butler led us in scoring with 17, Chris Dawson had 16 and Grant Petion had 15.

La Salle Player of The Game: Chris Dawson 16 points.[/font]

[TheShow23]

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2025 NCAA Tournament


West Region



3rd Round[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (6) St. John's Red Storm

A three from Brandon London capped off a 10-0 run which gave St. John's a 30-27 halftime lead. Playing at their pace we knew a repeat of that would be the end of our season, a spark was needed and Jonathan Butler was the player who provided it. Scoring 12 straight points midway through the second half put us ahead 59-51. He strong play was the main reason we held them off in route to a 77-69 win. Jonathan finished with 25 points on 11-17 shooting, he was our only player in double figures.

La Salle Player of The Game: Jonathan Butler 25 points 8 rebounds.[/font]

[TheShow23]

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2025 NCAA Tournament


West Region



Sweet 16

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (2) Florida Gators

The surprise of the region was the fact among the 4 teams in the Sweet 16 defending national champion Oregon was not one of them as New Mexico stunned the top seeded Ducks in the 3rd round. Before tip off Brian Willis told me he was going have a big game, he had been in a bit of a slump but he felt he would break out. That he did, his 12-7 in the first half propelled us to a 38-27 halftime lead. Chris Dawson scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half, we were on the way to the Elite 8 after a 72-63 win. Brian finished with 19 and 12, Chris had 17 and Grant Petion had 13 points.

La Salle Player of The Game: Brian Willis 19 points 12 rebounds.[/font]

[TheShow23]

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2025 NCAA Tournament


West Region



Elite 8
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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (8) New Mexico Lobos

Though we wore our home jerseys as the higher seed this game felt like a true road game. Playing against New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico on their home court made our task of getting back to the Final Four difficult to say the least. The crowd was 90-10 New Mexico fans. In the first half we couldn't make a shot, period. Some of it was bad shot selection, a lot of it was the New Mexico defense. Trailing 22-32 at halftime we would have an uphill task in the second half. We never could get over the hill and in the end fell 57-66. Chris Dawson had his worst shooting game of the season going 2-15. Grant Petion was 3-11. Having our top two scorers shoot 5-26 doomed us. Brian Willis was the shining light scoring 14 and grabbing 11 rebounds.

La Salle Player of The Game: Brian Willis 14 points 11 rebounds.
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[TheShow23]

[SIZE="5"][color="Navy"]2025 NCAA Tournament[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"] Final Four



Pitt(1) 44 vs. Michigan State (2) 61



Houston (3) 64 vs. New Mexico (8) 67



National Title Game


Michigan State (2) 57 vs. New Mexico (8) 68

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[SIZE="5"][color="Navy"]2024/2025 La Salle Season Recap[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"] Overall Record: 26-9


Atlantic 10 Record: 14-2

RPI: 14

National Rank: 9


Dion Tyler – Atlantic 10 Coach of The Year
Grant Petion – Atlantic 10 Player of The Year
Brian Willis - Atlantic 10 Freshman of The Year
Grant Petion - Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of The Year
Chris Dawson – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Jonathan Butler – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Grant Petion – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Brian Willis - Atlantic 10 1st Team



Recruiting

We had 8 scholarships available so it was crucial we put them to use.

• Johnnie Diggs is a 6’11 power forward from Augusta, Georgia. Excellent defender and rebounder. Johnnie is ranked 21st in the country.

• Fletcher Slay is a 6-7 power forward from Rosman, North Carolina. Like Johnnie Diggs, Fletcher is excellent on defense. Fletcher is the 26th rated player in the country.

• Rashod Horton is a 6’1 point guard from Barlow, Kentucky. A playmaker on offense and a ball hawk on defense Rashod is ranked 29th in the country.


• R.T Chappel is a 6’8 small forward from Weldon, North Carolina. A smooth scorer who gets the bulk of his offense by slashing to the hoop. R.T is ranked 44th in the country.

• Craig Williams is a 6-1 shooting guard from Sykesville, Maryland. Scoring is what Craig does best. Craig is the 55th rated player in the country.



• Derrick Flippen is a 6'0 point guard from Goldsboro, North Carolina. One of the best shooters in his class. Derrick is ranked 139 in the country.

• Leon Strong is a 6-2 point guard from Santa Maria, California. Leon is a one man wrecking crew on defense, completely disrupts opposing point guards. Leon is the 120th rated player in the country.
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[SIZE="5"]La Salle 2024/2025 Season Stats[/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"]PPG
1. Chris Dawson 12.7
2. Grant Petion 12.5
3. Jonathan Butler 9.9
4. Brian Willis 9.1



RPG
1. Brian Willis 6.6
2. Jonathan Butler 5.8



APG
1. Jabari Herrion 4.5



SPG
1. Grant Petion 1.4
2. Chris Dawson 1.4


BPG
1. Brian Willis 1.3



2025 NBA draft: Jason Crawford 54, Jonathan Butler 34, Roderick Andrews 33, Jason Smith 30[/font]

[CoachC]

having to play a tournament game in The Pit?

[TheShow23]

having to play a tournament game in The Pit?

Yup, the regional was set to be played in Albuquerque. Didn't think New Mexico would get that far so when the tournament played out we ended up playing there

[TheShow23]

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2025/2026 La Salle Explorers Roster[/color][/SIZE]

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Starters

*Jabari Herrion 6-2 Senior Point Guard 4/4
*Chris Dawson 6-5 Junior RS Shooting Guard 4.5/5
*Grant Petion 6-5 Senior Small Forward 4.5/5
Fletcher Slay 6-7 Freshman Power Forward 4/5
*Brian Willis 6-8 Sophomore Center 4.5/5


Reserves

Rashod Horton 6-1 Freshman Point Guard 5/5
Leon Strong 6-2 Freshman Point Guard 2.5/3.5
Johnnie Diggs 6-11 Freshman Power Forward 2.5/5
R.T Chappel 6-8 Freshman Small Forward 2/3.5
Ryan Marshall 6-4 Senior Point Guard 2.5/4.5
Jimmy Tompson 6-8 Junior RS Power Forward 3/ 4.5
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[TheShow23]

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2025/2026 Non-Conference Review[/color][/SIZE]

[font="Comic Sans MS"]Heading into the season I felt this team would be very good, as a result I was very ambitious in our pre-conference scheduling. In our season opener against Texas A&M, Chris Dawson scored a career high 34 points in a 88-71 win. He shot a remarkable 20 for 21 from the free throw line. In the semifinals of the Maui Invitational we were against 15th ranked Notre Dame. Chris and Jabari Herrion each scored 17 points leading us to a 84-75 win. Brian Willis chipped in with 12 while Johnnie Diggs led the bench efforts with 10 points. Four starters in double figures lead a balance attack against 13th ranked Weber State in the finals. A 81-72 win secured us the Maui Invitational. Brian and Chris led the way with 17. Fletcher Slay scored 16 and R.T Chappel starting in place of an injured Grant Petion had 13.


Following two road losses at New Mexico and USC, 2nd ranked Indiana paid us a visit. In a tight, low scoring game we squeaked out a 57-53 win. Chris Dawson carried us scoring 27 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Swamp is one of the toughest venues for a road team to win at, facing the 2nd ranked Florida Gators the mental toughness of our veteran players proved to be the difference in a 81-73 win. Chris had 27 points while Grant Petion and Fletcher Slay chipped in 11 and 10 points a piece. We closed out non-conference play with a 70-57 win at 13th ranked UCLA. Brian Willis had 19 points while Chris scored 14.


La Salle overall record 11-2 ranked number 6 in the country[/font]