[SIZE="5"]2023 Atlantic 10 Tournament[/SIZE]
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[font="Comic Sans MS"](5) La Salle Explorers vs. (12) Rhode Island Rams
Playing on the opening day of the Atlantic 10 Tournament is something we have not been used to. We got off to a good start on offense but defensively effort was lacking as we took a 40-34 lead into halftime. Fred Black and Jason Crawford sparked a 17-3 run that broke the game wide open leading us to a 74-61 win. Fred finished with 20 points and 6 assists while Jason scored 15 points. Defensively the effort picked up in the second half as we held Rhode Island to 30% shooting in the second half.
La Salle Player of The Game: Fred Black 20 points 6 assists.
(5) La Salle Explorers vs. (4) Xavier Musketeers
In close games between even matched teams it tends to be the great players who make the difference in the game. Lucky for us we have the best player on the floor in Fred Black. He scored 32 points on 11 for 16 shooting and 5 for 9 from 3. We needed every single point as we narrowly held off Xavier 67-62. Down the stretch Fred scored our final 14 points.
La Salle Player of The Game: Fred Black 32 points.
(5) La Salle Explorers vs. (1) Duquesne Dukes
We trailed 25-34 at halftime, internally I wouldn’t would we be able to come back against the top seeded Dukes. In years past the answer would have been yes because of our mental toughness. This season’s team while talented has not shown the mental toughness of past La Salle teams. In the second half we decided to play 4 guards out with Juan McCullum as the only inside player. The four guards of Fred Black, Traves Black, Grant Petion, and Jason Smith would play the bulk of the half as I shortened the rotation. A three by Jason Smith gave us our first lead of the game 70-69 with a minute left. Grant stole the ensuing inbounds pass and dunk it to put us up 72-69. We survived three game tying attempts and Fred’s two freethrows iced a 74-69 win.
La Salle Player of The Game: Juan McCullum 14 points 15 rebounds.
(5) La Salle Explorers vs. (6) Richmond Spiders
Coming into the game the hype surrounded our guards, for good reason they have carried us the entire season. However shooting guard Dan Lewis didn’t get the memo about how our guards were supposed to steal the show. In a game full of talented guards Dan was the best one today, scoring 26 points. On the other hand our guards struggled, Fred Black went 1 for 6. Grant Petion shot 7 for 23, Traves Black shot 2 for 6 while Jason Smith went 0 for 5 off the bench. With the score tied at 64 late in the game Dan hit his 4th three of the game to give Richmond a 67-64 lead. With Fred unable to get free Grant got a look from three, his shot bounced off the rim with Richmond getting the rebound. They got the rebound with 50 seconds left, with a 15 second difference between shot and game clock we decided to play defense instead of fouling. With the shot clock running shot Dan Lewis hit a dagger three pointer to put Richmond up 70-64. Rushing the ball up the court Lewis stole the ball and raced down the court for a dunk which sealed a loss.
La Salle Player of The Game: Juan McCullum 12 points 10 rebounds.
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