If I had told you the La Salle Explorers had a lead of 18 points in the first half, you think that they were on the winning side. But thanks to Davidson’s Troy Kalinoski hitting a game winning layup at the buzzer, La Salle’s season came to an end 67-66 in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals in Brooklyn, NY.
The La Salle Explorers had an amazing first half in which seniors Steve Zack, Jerrell Wright and D.J. Peterson were all dominating. Davidson had no answer for the combination of Zack and Wright in the post, as the seniors played with a purpose and did not want their season to end. In the first half alone, Zack and Wright combined for 14 of 16 from the field, while Peterson scored nine points including 3 of 3 from three-point range.
Davidson went on a mini run towards the end of the half but La Salle held a 46-37 lead.
Then in the second half, momentum started to go towards the Wildcats as they started knocking down their three-point shots thanks to sophomore guard Jack Gibbs, who was 5-of-10 from three-point range and scored 22 points. Later in the second half, La Salle had built a 64-54 lead but that fell apart as Davidson went on attack mode knowing that the game was in reach.
The Explorers scored their last basket with 4:45 left in the game thanks to a Wright dunk. After that, Davidson turned up the defense and knocked down their shots as both Kalinoski and Brian Sullivan cut the lead down to six. Then with 1:23 left in the game, Kalinoski made a layup and finally the wheels came off for La Salle as Gibbs was fouled as he made a three-pointer to cut the Explorers lead to 66-65.
La Salle got the clock down to 16 seconds but took a misguided shot as guard Jordan Price launched an unnecessary three-pointer and that was all she wrote. Kalinoski made the game winning layup sending Davidson to the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals, while sending La Salle home back to Philadelphia.
The Explorers played a phenomenal game probably the best they played all season especially from their senior big men. Wright finished with 19 points and six rebounds, while Zack had the best game of his career posting a double-double consisting of 24 points and 15 rebounds.
After the game, Zack expressed his feelings on his career-high saying, “It means nothing right now. My career is over on a buzzer beater.”
That is the sad reality of March Madness for a lot players including La Salle as it does not look like a NIT bid is in their future.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
