By Sean Kennedy
Yesterday’s Action
After trailing rival Drexel by 4 points at halftime, St. Joe’s opened the floodgates and poured in 52 second half points to cruise to an easy 20-point victory. Halil Kanacevic was Mr. Everything for the Hawks, dropping a career-high 27 points, to go along with team-highs in rebounds (14), assists (4), and blocks (2). Kanacevic was nearly perfect from the floor, shooting a sparkling 12-13, and played a pivotal role in the early second-half run that first gave St. Joe’s a double-digit lead. Kanacevic was joined by DeAndre Bembry (18 points) in powering the Hawks attack on a night where Langston Galloway struggled with his shot and Ronald Roberts, Jr. battled foul trouble.
Tavon Allen was the only Dragon who brought his shooting touch to Hawk Hill, finishing with a team-high 20 points on 7-13 shooting. Usual Drexel stalwarts Frantz Massenat and Chris Fouch combined to shoot just 6-24 and the team as a whole was shut out from the three-point line, going 0-11. Neither of these teams have any other tough non-conference games remaining before entering conference play in a couple weeks. That fact makes this victory all the more valuable for the Hawks as it was their last chance to pad a potential tournament resume outside the A-10.
Texas Southern 90, Temple 89
In his return to the city where he played two years of his collegiate ball, former La Salle Explorer Aaric Murray was an unstoppable force for Texas Southern Wednesday night. Murray shot an outstanding 20-28 from the floor to finish with 48 points, the most points ever scored at the Liacouras Center and the most in Division 1 this season, while also stepping up down the stretch when his team needed him. Having seen their double-digit lead fall to just one in the closing minutes, the Tigers worked the ball in to Murray on the block and fought through a foul from Anthony Lee to watch his shot roll in. On their next possession, Murray rebounded a miss off a free throw between both Anthony Lee and and Daniel Dingle, and bullied his way to the hoop to finish with his left hand and put his team up 6 points.
Temple didn’t go down quietly, as Will Cummings hit a three and Dingle had a put-back basket and was fouled. He missed the ensuing free throw but Lee grabbed the rebound and was fouled. His two free throws gave the Owls their first lead of the game. For some reason, Texas Southern didn’t go to Murray on the following possession and Ray Penn chucked an ill-advised three despite being down just 1 point. However, Madarious Gibbs grabbed the board and made both free throws to put the Tigers back ahead. With Temple’s final chance, Cummings missed a three and Dalton Pepper’s successful follow-up attempt was a fraction after the buzzer.
The Owls were led offensively by a very efficient Quenton DeCosey, who shot 8-9 for a team-high 9 points. Dalton Pepper also had an excellent all-around performance, with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. But the story was really all about the Owls’ inability to slow down Murray on the defensive end. Temple also had some trouble with rel=”nofollow”the talented big men of Texas and the lack of size beyond Anthony Lee may be a larger concern than initially thought. Temple will have a quick turnaround to shake this loss off as they face LIU Brooklyn this weekend.
Today’s Action
7:00 PM: La Salle (5-5, 0-0 A-10) vs. Wagner (5-6, 0-0 NEC)
Coming off their worst loss of the season to city rival Villanova, the Explorers will look to right the ship against the Wagner Seahawks. Unlike their football-playing cousins in Seattle, this group of Seahawks doesn’t have a boatload of PEDs helping them to a dominant season. Wagner’s lone win in its past 5 games was an overtime victory over Penn, which Daily Cup readers obviously know is no powerhouse this year. Wagner plays at an extremely fast pace, but with minimal offensive efficiency, shooting an abysmal 40.8% from the field on the season. That fast-paced engine of missed shots is powered by Wagner’s triumvirate of starting guards 6’1″ or shorter, as Latif Rivers, Kenneth Ortiz, and Jay Harris account for half of the team’s points. Rivers and Harris have actually shot the ball well from the perimeter, each shooting around 40% on threes, and will be the main threats to the Explorers in this battle.
This game will not be aesthetically pleasing for basketball purists with both teams among the worst-shooting teams in the land. La Salle does have a clear edge in talent level, however, so despite their inconsistent play throughout the year, I look for the Explorers to prevail in this battle of brick-layers.
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