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La Salle Rally Falls Short at Home George Washington hangs on for 7th league win
Home-court advantage does a team little good when they dig themselves and 18-point hole to climb out of, and that was the situation for La Salle on Saturday night. The Explorers (12-15, 4-8) fell behind by as many as 18 points in the second half at Tom Gola Arena, pulling to within one before falling to George Washington 82-80. Tony Taylor was one of two Colonials (14-12, 7-5) to lead the way with 17 points while also accounting for 11 assists (and nine turnovers), and as a team Karl Hobbs' team shot 52.7% from the field. Jerrell Williams led La Salle with 27 points while Tyreek Duren added 15 and eight assists as the Explorers lost for the fourth time in the last five games. Nemanja Mikic got things rolling with a three-pointer just 18 seconds into the game, with Ruben Guillandeaux putting La Salle on the board with a layup at the 19:01 mark. The Explorers would lead by as many as six points in the first half but the Colonials closed the half on a 9-1 run to take a 43-38 lead into the half. George Washington outscored the Explorers 26-18 in the paint in the first half with Taylor accounting for 11 points and seven assists in the first half. The Colonials shot 54.5% for the half, doing a good job of executing and finding the best available shot. La Salle on the other hand shot just 44.1%, with 11 of their 34 field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc.
Dwayne Smith's three just 16 seconds into the second half gave George Washington a 46-38 lead, and the Colonials would score 13 of the first 16 points of the half to take 56-41lead into the first media timeout. A Brian Bynes three at the 14:48 mark gave the Colonials their biggest lead of the game at 59-41, but La Salle would score the next eight points to cut the lead to 10 with 13:14 left in the game. George Washington took a 14-point lead into the under 12 timeout, and a pair of Aaric Murray free throws with 7:11 remaining pulled the Explorers back to within 10. They wouldn't make a serious dent in the margin until the final three minutes of the game, beginning with a Sam Mills layup to make the score 75-67 with 3:28 remaining. La Salle would outscore the Colonials 12-3 over the next two-plus minutes to make the score 78-77 with 53 seconds left in the game, but a pair of Bynes free throws 11 seconds later made the score 80-77. A Murray layup was answered by a pair of Taylor free throws, and Murray missed a chance to tie the game with nine seconds remaining. With three seconds remaining Mills was fouled, and after making the first free throw he missed the second on purpose. But Murray's shot at the buzzer missed the mark, giving George Washington the victory. Next up for La Salle is a game at Xavier on Tuesday night, and the Colonials host Charlotte on Wednesday.
By: Raphielle Johnson |