Yet another snowstorm on the Eastern seaboard wreaked havoc with the schedule, pushing back the Big 5 battle at the Palestra between St. Joseph's and La Salle to Thursday night. But the timing meant little to Aaric Murray, who scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 76-72 Explorer victory. Earl Pettis added 14 points while Cole Stefan scored 12 off the bench in helping La Salle (10-11, 2-4) win their second straight game. Carl Jones led five Hawks in double figures with 24 points but it wasn't enough to give St. Joe's (5-15, 0-6) their first conference victory, falling just short in their rally after trailing by as many as 18 points. Next up for St. Joseph’s is another Big 5 matchup at the Palestra on Saturday as they take on Temple, while La Salle visits Charlotte the same day.

The game got off to a start expected of many Big 5 games, with the two teams trading baskets at a solid pace. St. Joe’s didn’t trail in the first 11 minutes of the game, taking a 14-9 lead with 12:54 remaining on an Idris Hilliard jumper. But the Hawks became careless with the basketball, turning the ball over five times during a 7-0 La Salle run to give the Explorers a 16-14 lead. The game then played close to even for the next three minutes until Cole Stefan made the score 28-25 on a three-pointer with 4:28 remaining in the half. La Salle closed the half on 9-2 run, taking a 34-27 lead into the locker room. The Explorers shot 52.4% from the field but eleven turnovers allowed a young St. Joe’s squad that’s had a penchant for being loose with the ball themselves to hang around.