The men’s basketball team pulled out a scrappy and tough basketball victory over La Salle. The game was a back and forth battle against two strong Atlantic 10 teams, but in the end, La Salle’s turnovers and missed opportunities did them in as the Billikens won 59-51.
The Bills (20-5, 8-3 A 10) put themselves in prime position in the conference standings as the team prepares for the final stretch of the A 10 season. With this win, the Bills snapped the 14 home-game winning streak by La Salle at Tom Gola Arena, which was the 10th-longest home winning streak in the nation.
Dwayne Evans led the way with his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and collecting 13 rebounds, 6 on the offensive end. Three other Bills scored in double figures, including Kwamain Mitchell, who contributed 12 points, Mike McCall Jr., who scored 11 points, and Brian Conklin, who scored 10.
The Bills jumped out to an early 8-4 lead thanks to two earlier three-point baskets by Mitchell. After the first media timeout, the Explorers briefly took a 10-8 lead, but the Bills would respond. The Bills went on a 9-0 run that put them back on top at 17-10. Evans scored 6 out of the Bills 9 points in the run.
However, the Explorers did not go away and pulled within one point with 1:15 left in the first half, 24-23. The Bills would take a 26-23 advantage into halftime.
There were a lot of missed layups and easy baskets in the first half by both teams. However, the second half would be a whole another story.
Both teams made baskets on their first four possessions in the second half, which tied the game at 32-32.
The game then became a battle of simply who wanted to win more. From the first media timeout to the to the 4:00 minute mark in the second half, there were 6 lead changes between the Bills and the Explorers. SLU took a timeout with the game tied 47-47.
After the Bills timeout, they went on a 5-0 run to take the lead and would not give it back to the Explorers, 52-47. Neither team scored for nearly three minutes once after this point.
The Explorers would make a layup to cut the lead to 52-49 but would not come closer than that, as they could not get a defensive stop and turned the ball over when they had an opportunity to cut into the Bills slim lead.Eventually the Explorers had to foul, but the Bills converted on their free throws to knock the Explorers out of the game for good. The Explorers were led by Jerrell Wright who scored 18 points
Turnovers were a key part of this game, as the Explorers committed 20 turnovers, but the Bills uncharacteristically committed 17 turnovers. Another interesting aspect of the game was the officiating, as there were some questionable calls on both ends of the floor.
The Bills are temporarily tied for the lead in the A-10 Conference standings with Temple. However, Temple plays a pivotal game against Xavier at 8 p.m. If Temple wins, the Bills will remain in second place in the standings, but if Temple loses, the Bills would be tied on top the conference standings with Xavier.
The Bills will return home to play Richmond on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. at Chaifetz Arena.
