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COLLEGE: La Salle Ends Drought With Win Over St. Joe's

By Emilee Desmond (Photos by Mike Nance), 02/11/20, 9:30AM EST

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Philadelphia--The La Salle men’s basketball team snapped their seven-game losing streak with an 83-66 home win Saturday over Big 5 rival Saint Joseph’s University.

Junior Explorer David Beatty helped his team roll past the Hawks with 18 points and pick up the team’s fourth straight win over their rivals at home.

The team’s started in a back and forth battle until Beatty sunk a three pointer to set fire on La Salle’s offense and begin the 15-0 run to put the Blue and Gold up 28-11 with seven minutes left in the first half. Freshman Brandon Stone came up with a three of his own to put the Explorers up 16 with3:34 until halftime.

The Hawks fought back in the final seconds to cut the deficit down to 10 on a pair of free throws by Rahmir Moore but Beatty responded with a three pointer before the buzzer to give the Blue and Gold a 43-29 lead going into halftime.

La Salle started the second half with slower momentum and let SJU pull within 9 after a Lorenzo Edwards layup. La Salle’s Ed Croswell came up big on the defensive end with a block shot before dishing the ball off to freshman Ayinde Hikim who scored off a layup and an extra point from the foul line.

With nine minutes left on the clock, Hikim came up with another layup to keep the Explorers on top of the game 62-47.

Croswell dominated in the final minutes, scoring seven straight points to give his team the 72-57 lead with less than five minutes to play.

The sophomore finished the game with 14 points and eight rebounds, six of which came from the offensive side of the court.

La Salle maintained control throughout the end of the game and secured the home victory.

Also finishing in double digit figures were Sherif Kenney (12), Scott Spencer (11), and Hikim (10).

Post Game Press Conference with La Salle head coach Ashley Howard

Post Game Press Conference with La Salle's David Beatty who helped seal victory over St. Joes.

In the first half alone, the Explorers nailed 10 three-pointers and scored 16 points off of 11 Hawks turnovers.

“La Salle was great tonight, particularly in the first half,” said St. Joe’s head coach Billy Lange. “I was proud of our guys’ effort, especially in the offensive rebounds.”

“La Salle was just awesome, they were great.”

“It feels good to get over the hump,” said Explorer head coach Ashley Howard after their first win after a seven-game losing streak.

“Our guys have been battling and sticking it out through injuries and tough losses and the energy has remained positive through it all.”

St. Joe’s, Ryan Daly scored a game-high 26 points while Edwards added 10 more to the score. This would be the 15th time this season that Daly reached the 20-point mark.

Saint Joe's will return home on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to face St. Bonaventure while La Salle will match up against Richmond on Wednesday at home.