As devastating as this title sounds, the La Salle Explorers fell to the Wichita State Shockers 72-58 tonight in the Sweet 16. An amazing season it was the Explorers and even though they did not play well tonight, they gave a valiant effort in the second half. It was just a little bit too much of the Wichita State Shockers in this game.
The Shockers were clicking on all cylinders as forward Carl Hall led the way with 16 points and eight rebounds. Closing the game out was guard Malcolm Armstead who had 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists. One thing that killed the Explorers tonight was they could not get any rebounds. La Salle was dominated on the boards 44-23.
Even though the Explorers were dominated on the boards, sophomore forward Jerrell Wright had a tremendous game with 16 points and eight rebounds. Wright definitely opened up some eyes across the country in my opinion. On the other hand, senior guard Ramon Galloway couldn’t find his shot tonight as he only had 11 points and shot 4 of 15 from the field. For the senior, he had a great tournament run and is definitely a NBA prospect who could be a serious player.
This team gave a great run in the NCAA Tournament and did things that nobody expected them to do! First of all, they got into the NCAA Tournament; on that Wednesday they had their coming out party and defeated Boise State. Then two days later, they pulled the upset and defeated Kansas State and then on that Sunday, Ty Garland hit the “Southwest Philly Floater” to defeat Ole Miss. So just like this tournament, the Explorers gave the fans, alumni, students, faculty and the city of Philadelphia something we will never forget for years to come.
At the end of the game, in La Salle’s locker room, there was a message on the white board and it read “A Great Season, Life Goes On, Love Goes On, Family Goes On”. #LaSalleProud
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