In the second nail-biter game for Philadelphia college basketball teams this afternoon, La Salle held on to survive a late charge from fourth-seeded Kansas State, and upset the Wildcats 63-61. After dominating early, La Salle began to collapse, and nearly gave away a game that seemed to be in their hands.
The Explorers jumped out to an impressive lead in the first half, completely outplaying the Wildcats. La Salle entered the locker room with a 44-26 lead, after an impressive first half of shooting. The second half was a completely different story for La Salle.
After being red-hot in the first half, the Explorers shooting went ice cold in the second half. Kansas State closed the 18 point lead the Explorers had built, as the two teams traded leads in the closing minutes of the game. After scoring only 19 second half points, La Salle got some clutch free throws from Jerrell Wright in the final 30 seconds to complete the upset.
Wright led the Explorers in the contest, scoring 21 points, while also grabbing 8 rebounds. He stepped up in the absence of big-man Steve Zack, to help the Explorers continue their NCAA Tournament run.
Ramon Galloway also had a big game for the Explorers. Galloway scored 19 points, had 4 rebounds, and 4 assists for La Salle. Another guard for La Salle, Sam Mills, had a big contribution for the Explorers, scoring 10 points, while grabbing 3 rebounds, and dishing out 3 assists.
Tyreek Duren again was ice cold for La Salle, scoring only 3 points. Tyrone Garland, who had a huge game against Boise State, also was off today, scoring only 2 points.
Thirteenth seeded La Salle now advances to the Round of 32, where they will face twelfth seeded Ole Miss, who upset Wisconsin earlier today. The Explorers are poised to be this year's Cinderella team, but they will need to play a more complete game, and possibly require the services of Steve Zack.
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