New York winters are cold, especially in the morning, and it took La Salle (5-4) until the afternoon to truly get going. The Explorers wasted no time in the second half, however, erasing a 31-22 first half deficit before going on to beat Stony Brook (6-4), 65-57.
“Two things were huge factors for us winning the game,” John Giannini said after the game. “Holding them to under 30-percent in the second half. (Jameel) Warney is one of the better big guys that we’ll play and Steve really battled.”
The other is Jerrell Wright. Jerrell is such a good player. He has proven that over last year, but he is too nice. We all know that the best big men have a bit of a mean streak in them. Sometimes we have to challenge him to get it out.
Wright was a force inside for La Salle, leading the way with 21 points, 16 of which came in the second half. With the Explorers struggling from the field and especially from beyond the arc, John Giannini began to work is post players, to the benefit of Wright and Steve Zack.
“It is nice knowing that my team can count on me to score inside,” Wright said after the game. “Me and Zack knew we were going to get the ball. We just had to finish.”
Zack finished with another double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Tyrone Garland also added 12 points. Garland started the second half after again beginning the game on the bench.
“We were struggling offensively,” Giannini said when asked about the decision to have Garland out on the floor to start the second 20 minutes. “I didn’t know if we were going to score another basket the rest of the game. We’ve done some thing offensively that will help Tyrone and he got us going and hit some baskets.”
Peterson, who missed his first four three-point attempts, returned in the second half to sink two from range. A select shooter who last year held the second highest three-point percentage in the Atlantic 10, Peterson’s efficiency has dipped into the low teens coming into this game.
“We are talking about guys that are high-30s and low-40s,” Giannini said about Peterson and the rest of his struggling shooters. “These guys are proven shooters. We are going to encourage them to keep shooting. The shot that DJ hit was a big one.”
The first half saw the Explorers shoot just 26.7-percent from the field and 15.4-percent from deep, numbers that have become all too commonplace for a La Salle team that thrived from outside 20 feet last season. La Salle’s guards attempted 13 shots from deep, with the two conversions coming from Tyreek Duren to start the game and Khalid Lewis at the end of the half.
In between, there were 11 consecutive misses.
With the lineup changes in the second half and a commitment to the post game, the Explorers were sparked on both ends of the field. La Salle erased Stony Brook’s lead quickly due not only to their improved offense, but also to holding Stony Brook to 4-17 to start that half. Much of that was the limitation of Warney, who led Stony Brook with 15 points and eight rebounds. Warney finished the first half with 11 points on 5-6 shooting, but ended the game shooting just 6-15.
“We wanted to deny him the ball and not let him get it at all,” Wright said about Warney and the second-half adjustment. Zack was able to get a few blocks on the big man, who came in averaging 17.4 points per contest, when Stony Brook was looking inside late. Despite allowing 51.9-percent shooting for the Seawolves in the first half, La Salle held them to under 30-percent in teh second, giving up just 9-30.
La Salle also owes their success to getting to the charity stripe. The Explorers attempted 33 free throws, making 25 of them. In the second half, La Salle was 21-27 from the line. Stony Brook was just 7-9 for the game.
“We want to be aggressive. We have guards that can penetrate and big guys that can post,” Giannini said about the foul line disparity. “They’re good players. Not surprised we get to the line and we keep them off. We officiate our practices like crazy. We try to teach our guys how not to foul.”
In the Garden: This is La Salle’s first game in the Garden in over a decade and the first time on the floor for all of these players.
“On the exterior, it is iconic.” Giannini said about Madison Square Garden. “Once you get on the court though, it is very nice. It is not old, it doesn’t feel like the 70s. It feels like the Staples Center or where the Thunder play. Coming in and going through the bowels, it is just really cool.”
The players echoed the sentiment:
“I’ve never been here so when I walked in I was in amazement,” Zack said when asked about his experience. “It was a really fun experience to play here and I want to come back.”
“Not for the NIT, though,” I joked with him.
“No, in the regular season.”
INJURY REPORT: Over the last 36 hours, much speculation has surrounded Duren with rampant rumors that he suffered a stress fracture. As was reported this morning, those are untrue.
“He is going to be able to play. He has plantar fasciitis,” Giannini confirmed after the game. “It looked like it could be a stress fracture, but he went and saw a specialist after the Hartford game. He has not practiced at all this week.”
Having had plantar faciitis (worst injury ever), Duren’s availability will be based upon the severity and his pain tolerance. What will help is rest and as the Explorers have eight days off and only three games in the next 28 days, Duren should be able to rest his foot a bit.
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