City of Brotherly Love: Run LaSalle, Run

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2021 Atlantic 10 Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](1) La Salle Explorers vs. (8) Fordham Rams

Even with the loss of Eddie Robinson the frontcourt is still the strength of our team. I feel the combination of guys we have are the best in the country and at some point they all will player basketball professionally. Size, strength, skill, agility our frontline has it all. Dave-Juan-Derek scored 45 points and grabbed 22 rebounds. We outscored Fordham 42-20 in the paint and out rebounded them 50-34. Domination like that ensured us victory as we advanced with a 78-64 win.

La Salle Player of The Game: Derrick Morrison 15 points 10 rebounds 3 blocks.





(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (4) St. Joseph’s Hawks

Before each season starts we have a team meeting, in that meeting each players gets asked if they can make a play when it counts. We won a lot of games by blowout but to constantly win like we have done winning close games makes the difference. I’ am lucky to have a group of players who under pressure embrace those moments. Trailing 64-62 late in the game Traves Black hit a three from the top of the key to put us up one. Andre Joseph hit a three to put St. Joe’s up 67-65. A loose ball was on the floor, it was a 50-50 ball which Donnell Smith got to, his pass found Dave Williams who made his only three of the game putting us up 68-67. Al Boozer beat his man off the dribble, driving to the rim Derek Morrison slide his feet perfectly to take the charge. On the next possession Juan blocked a shot, Derek’s outlet pass found Donnell who made an acrobatic layup plus drew a foul to put the game out of reach.


La Salle Player of The Game: Derrick Morrison 15 points 6 rebounds 5 blocks.





(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (3) Duquesne Dukes

Ryan Jones doesn’t get the hype other players on our team receive, but everyone in our locker know how important he is to our team. His floor leadership sparked a run which broke open a close game in the second half. Ryan would assist on five straight possessions as the lead went from 47-40 to 59-40. On defense we clamped down on Duquesne defensively holding them to 17 second half points. In the end a 78-55 meant we were cutting the nets down against, in a special moment we had the rim lowered so Eddie Robinson could cut the last piece of the net off.


La Salle Player of The Game: Dave Williams 18 points.

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2021 NCAA Tournament


South Region



2nd Round

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (14) Bryant Bulldogs

Some games Derek Morrison looks like a lottery pick, sometimes he looks unmotivated it just depends on what kind of mood he is in. Before our first tournament game against Bryant he had that look of determination in his eyes. Once I saw that I knew the game plan had to be get Derek the damn ball, early and often. He scored our first 10 points and we never looked back in route to a 67-51 win. Derek scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.


La Salle Player of The Game: Derek Morrison 23 points 12 rebounds.
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2021 NCAA Tournament


South Region



3rd Round

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (6) Davidson Wildcats

Our inside players would be a major advantage, before the game I told the team we were going to attack in the paint. Our post players played good in the first half but our guards were horrible, that is the honest truth. Davidson took a 33-26 lead into halftime. Halftime adjustments, force the ball inside even more in attempt to wear Davidson out. 2nd adjustment, double team star Davidson fan Marcue Prater, though he wasn’t killing us we knew he was their guy so we would put extra pressure on him. We continued to pound the ball inside and as I thought Davidson began to wear down. Once we gained a double figure lead the game was over, in our minds. We managed the rest of the way winning 70-56. Dave Williams had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Juan McCullum had 14 and 8.


La Salle Player of The Game: Dave Williams 17 points 7 rebounds.

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2021 NCAA Tournament


South Region



Sweet 16

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](3) La Salle Explorers vs. (10) Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State is a team who plays great defense but struggles on offense, “65” was the magic number basically meaning if we scored at least 65 we would win the game. Off the bench Aaron Slider sparked us in the first half scoring 10 points, his work helped us to a 45-30 halftime lead. We built the lead up to as much as 24 in the second half, the final score was a 69-59 win but the game was never that close. Derrick Morrison had 10 points, 11 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 steals. Aaron Slider, Donnell Smith, and Juan McCullum also scored in double figures.


La Salle Player of The Game: Derrick Morrison 10 points 11 rebounds 6 blocks 4 steals.
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2021 NCAA Tournament


South Region



Elite 8

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (3) La Salle Explorers vs. (1) Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Fifth game of the season we played against Wake Forest in the Preseason NIT, it wasn’t one of our best moments as they beat us with ease. The players were ready, I could see it in their eyes so it was no need for an Al Pacino “Any Given Sunday” Speech. Wake came out the gates 20-7, but we didn’t fold, we even took the lead in the first half but ended up trailing 36-31 at halftime. A floater by Ryan Jones put us up 63-62 at the 2 minute mark. After a Wake Forest 2, Derek Morrison’s dunk put us up 65-64. Dave Williams 2nd 3 of the game put us up 67-65 at the 1 minute mark. Keiron Yearwood made a three to put Wake Forest up 68-67, coming down the court we turned the ball over with 30 seconds left. We immediately fouled but Wake made both foul shots. Coming down the court we wanted a quick 2 but Wake defended well, Donnell Smith got a look from three. His shot went in the rim but came out as Wake Forest rebounded. That would be out last chance as we lost a tough game 67-71


La Salle Player of The Game: Dave Williams 12 points.
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2021 NCAA Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Final Four



Pitt (1) 79 vs. Wake Forest (1) 69



Arizona (2) 60 vs. UCLA (1) 61



National Title Game


Pitt (1) 58 vs. UCLA (1) 88
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2020/2021 La Salle Season Recap

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Overall Record: 29-7


Atlantic 10 Record: 14-2


RPI: 11

National Rank: 10


Dion Tyler- Atlantic 10 Coach of The Year
Donnell Smith – Atlantic 10 Freshman of The Year
Derek Morrison – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Donnell Smith – Atlantic 10 2nd Team
Juan McCullum – Atlantic 10 2nd Team


Eddie Robinson drafted 35th, Peter Lutz drafted 48th in 2021 draft.




Recruiting

• Fred Black is a 6-2 shooting guard. The Manteo, North Carolina native is the 24th ranked player in the country. An exciting scorer we look forward to his offensive talent.

• Jason Smith is a 6’5 lanky shooting guard from North Scituate, Rhode Island. Like Fred his scoring ability will excite La Salle fans. Jason plays the passing lanes like a DB in football, overall he’s ranked 30th in the country.

• Jonathan Butler is a bruiser, the 6-6 power forward from Des Moines, Iowa is the kind of player who does whatever it takes to win. Offensively he has a great touch inside. Jonathan is ranked 37th in the country.

• Roderick Andrews is a 6-6 power forward from Griswold, Connecticut. Offensively is very good, just have to improve his defense. Roderick is ranked 39 in the country.

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La Salle 2020/2021 Season Stats

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] PPG
1. Eddie Robinson 12.3
2. Donnell Smith 11.8
3. Derek Morrison 10.9
4. Juan McCullum 10.4
5. Dave Williams 8.1



RPG
1. Derek Morrison 8.0
2. Juan McCullum 6.4



APG
1. Ryan Jones 5.5



SPG
1. Eddie Robinson 1.4
2. Donnell Smith 1.1


BPG
1.Derek Morrison 2.5
2. Juan McCullam 1.3
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2021/2022 La Salle Explorers Roster

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Starting Lineup


*Denotes Returning Starter

Traves Black 6-3 Sophomore RS PG 2/4
Fred Black 6-2 Freshman SG 4.5/5
Dave Williams 6-7 Senior SF 4/5
*Juan McCullum 6-10 Sophomore C 4.5/5
*Derrick Morrison 6-8 Senior C 4/5


Bench
Aaron Slider 6-7 Senior RS C 4/4
Jason Crawford 6-7 Freshman RS PF 1/4
Jonathan Butler 6-6 Freshman PF 2.5/5
Roderick Andrews 6-6 Freshman PF 1.5/4.5
Jason Smith 6-5 Freshman SG 2/5
Freddie Watkins 6-1 Freshman RS PG 1/2.5

Ineligible
*Donnell Smith 6-3 Sophomore SG 4/4.5
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2021/2022 Non-Conference Review

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]For the first time during my tenure as coach we started the season ranked in the top 25, the polls had us at 22 to start the season. Starting off 3-0 Freshman shooting guard Fred Black led us in scoring the first three games with 17, 22, and 24. In a 75-60 home loss against 13th ranked USC our old nemesis Jelani Payne torched us for 40 points. Our next game was at number 17 Louisville, on their home court we took it to them winning 83-69. Fred Black led four double figures scorers with 21 points.



After a 12 point win against Mississippi State we traveled to Assembly Hall to face top ranked Indiana. The Hoosiers lived up to their ranked beating us 77-60. After three straight wins we had a holiday tournament to play in before Atlantic 10 play started. Led by Fred Black’s 20 and Dave Williams 19 we eased to a 77-65 victory against Penn State. Against 14th ranked Michigan we held on for a 72-65, double-doubles by Derek Morrison and Juan McCullum led us. In the championship game against second ranked Pitt our defense completely shut the Panthers down in route to a 57-44 win.



We finished the non-conference with an 11-2 record and ranked number 11 in the polls.
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2021/2022 Atlantic 10 Review

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]We got a boost before league player started when Donnell Smith came back from his academic suspension. Though he was a starter last season he will come off the bench because Fred Black led us in scoring in non-conference play. An 86-46 win over St. Bonaventure put us at 5-0 in Atlantic 10 play. Traves Black had 12 assists and 6 steals. After a 66-70 loss to St. Louis we ran off five straight wins. Two of those wins were against ranked teams (21) Duquesne and (24) Temple. It took overtime to defeat Duquesne 83-76. Donnell Smith starting in place for the flu ridden Fred Black scored 17 points. Fred Black returned in a 85-66 win against Temple scoring 25 points in the process. A 91-65 win against Charlotte put us at 12-2 in the league. Losses at UMass and home to Fordham cost us the regular season Atlantic 10 title.



We finished the regular season 23-6, 12-4 in the Atlantic 10 and finished ranked number 6 in the polls.

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2022 Atlantic 10 Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](3) La Salle Explorers vs. (6) Temple Owls

A raucous sellout crowd turned out at the Barclay’s Center for a matchup of Big 5 rivals, and there was plenty of trash-talking in the student section. The Owls seemed to have the game well in hand before Fred Black took over in the final 2 minutes of regulation. Fred hit a jumper, made two free throws and then nailed a 3-pointer to tie it 71-71. After Brandon Milford missed a jumper, Donnell Smith missed a layup. Brandon Milford had the ball after a timeout with 5.6 seconds left, but he didn't get a shot off before the buzzer. Dave Williams hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring in overtime before Temple scored the next nine points. Bryan Mueller hit a 3-pointer and then his jumper gave the Owls a 76-74 lead. After four free throws by Temple, Fred Black’s 3-pointer got La Salle within 80-77. Traves Black hit a bank shot to cut it to 80-79. After Tim Burke missed a layup, the we set up the last shot, Fred Black’s basket with 2 seconds left gave us an 81-80. A desperation shot by Temple went wide as we moved on to the semifinals.

La Salle Player of The Game: Derrick Morrison 18 points 14 rebounds 3 blocks 3 steals.





(3) La Salle Explorers vs. (10) UMass Minutemen

UMass shot 15-of-32 from the field in the first half as it took a 36-30 lead into intermission. We were 11-of-26 from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Minutemen led by as many as nine in the second half, but we battled back to take a 61-60 lead with 8:03 to play on a Derrick Morrison bucket. The teams exchanged several leads in the ensuing minutes until La Salle went back up by one, 75-74, with 38 seconds to play on a Fred Black layup. Marcus Huge of UMass finished with ten points, but he connected on what UMass fans thought would be the game-winning layup with eight seconds left to put UMass up 76-75. Derrick Morrison scored 21 points, while Juan McCullum netted 14 points. Traves Black dished out five assists for the Explorers.

La Salle Player of The Game: Derrick Morrison 21 points 12 rebounds 3 blocks.




(3) La Salle Explorers vs. (1) Duquesne Dukes

Clinging to a one-point lead early in the second half, the Dukes went to work inside. John Williams scored in the paint, Jason Alexander had a dunk, and Williams completed a three-point play after a putback. The 11-2 run gave Duquesne a double-digit lead, and the Dukes held us off the rest of the way. A 58-69 loss ended our run of Atlantic 10 Tournament wins. Maurice Reid scored 20 points to lead three Dukes in doubles figures. John Williams had 13 points, and Jason Alexander added 11 points and eight rebounds for first-seeded Duquesne. Juan McCullum led us with 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Donnell Smith came off the bench to score 13. Leading scorer Fred Black shot 2 for 6 and finished with four points and four turnovers. Duquesne shot just 3 for 15 from behind the 3-point arc, but they were 25 for 42 on 2-point attempts. They outscored us 42-24 in the paint and outrebounded us 41-23.

La Salle Player of The Game: Juan McCullum 14 points.
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