Enrique Carrasco, Editor

The 11-5 Explorers welcomed the Richmond Spiders (12-6) to the Tom Gola arena. The Explorers had just come out of a win against George Mason on the road, and were looking to continue their two-game win streak. Fueled by the presence of all of the students coming back onto campus, the Explorers were looking to avoid a loss similar to the one the men’s team had faced. 

The game began with a shootout between the two teams, without either team being able to surpass the other by more than two points. After a short media time out, the Explorers were able to score nine points, giving them a 20-13 lead over the Spiders at the end of the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter, the Explorers were able to score seven unanswered points, giving the team an 11-point lead. Although the Spiders were able to cut the deficit down to eight points, the Explorers managed a turnover in the last 16 seconds of the game, giving the Explorers a 10-point lead heading into the half. 

Junior guard Claire Jacobs was the real story of the third quarter, scoring 11 points in the first four minutes of the quarter, and with her seventh bucket of the game, scored her 1000th point of her Collegiate career, becoming the 22nd person to ever hit that mark, and being the third fastest player in the program’s history to do it. With her team-high 17 points, Jacobs was able to lead the Explorers to a 77-57 win over the Spiders, moving the Explorers to 11-6 in the season, and 4-1 in conference play. 

The Explorers hope to continue their win streak heading into Wednesday, as they are on the road against the 9-8 St. Bonaventure Bonnies.

Enrique Carrasco, Editor

The 2-4 Explorers faced off against the 2-6 Holy Cross Crusaders at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday, Dec. 4. Although the Explorers came into the game thinking it would be an easy win, it turned out to be a much larger struggle for them. 

The Explorers went into halftime tied 37 all with the Crusaders. In the first half, the Explorers went 16-29 in Field Goals, 3-11 in three-pointers, and 2-3 in free throws. In comparison, the Crusaders went 12-30 in field goals, 5-10 in three-pointers, and 8-12 in free throws. Once again, the Explorers are haunted by their poor performance from within the paint, although their 55.17 percent completion rate in the first half is one of the highest percentages of the season for the Explorers. In their previous game against the Temple Owls, the Explorers had a higher three-point completion percentage than field goal percentage. 

At the start of the second half, the Explorers came out with the necessary energy to win the game and for the first time in the season looked like a fully functional D1 basketball team. The Explorers went 18-34 in field goals, 4-12 in three-pointers, and 7-10 in free throws. The Explorers scored 47 points in the second half, and their defense was able to hold the Crusaders to only 28 points in the half, ultimately sealing the win for La Salle. 

The two major problems that the Explorers have had this season bared their ugly teeth in La Salle’s victory over Holy Cross. The lack of points from within the paint (although some of the highest they have had all season) and the excessive fouls committed on both sides of the ball heavily tormented the Explorers throughout the entire game. This is a recurring issue for the Explorers and head coach Ashley Howard. The lack of discipline inside of the game has caused the Explorers to give their opponents various game-changing free throws in the past, and this game was no different. Coach Howard still has a lot of work to do with his team in order to get them into true Division I competing level, and he must do so fast if he hopes to be able to have any sort of playoff run.

Update: The Explorers beat the Farleigh Dickinson Knights 81-55

Enrique Carrasco, Editor

The La Salle Explorers faced what might have been their toughest opponent of the season: the seventh-ranked Villanova Wildcats. The Explorers came into the game 2-2 in the season, after two heartbreaking overtime losses to Sacred Heart and Delaware. The team came into the Palestra with the intention of winning and proving to their loyal fans that they were real championship contenders. Sadly, the Explorers, led by third year coach Ashley Howard, failed to live up to the hype for the game. The Explorers left the Palestra after an embarrassing 46 to 72 loss.

The Explorers were outscored in both halves of the game, only scoring 17 points in the first half and 29 points in the second half. In comparison, the Wildcats scored 42 points in the first half and 30 points in the second half. This poor scoring performance can be attributed to several factors, particularly the outstanding Villanova defense, which has managed to maintain most of its opponents to under 60 total points. In addition, the poor performance in field goals for the Explorers (the same problem that caused their loss to Sacred Heart during their home opener) led to the Explorers falling behind in points. The Explorers went 14-55 in field goals (25.5 percent completion rate) and 6-21 in three pointers (28.6 percent completion rate).

As a result of this loss, the Explorers are once again on a negative streak, being 2-3 in the season. This loss caused the Explorers to fall to 13th place in the A-10’s, only above George Washington University, who hold a record of 2-6 in the season. This is the opposite result that the Explorers had hoped for after first hiring coach Ashley Howard, who was an assistant coach at Villanova University when the team won the National Championship. As head coach of the Explorers, Howard holds a record of 34-52 (.395-win percentage). Moving forward, Howard has to make drastic adjustments to his game plan if he plans on bettering the position of his team within the conference, and if he hopes of having any shot at a playoff run.

While this loss embarrassed the Explorers, it was not all negative. Three-star first year Khalil Brantley led the team in scoring, going 5-10 in field goals, 3-4 in three pointers, and 4-5 in free throws, coming to a total of 17 points in the game, outscoring every other player on the court. The first-year shows why he is a three-star talent, and if developed properly under Coach Howard, he could become a true threat to other teams once he is an upperclassman. 

KC Medico, Staff 

The Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Philadelphia Flyers in a star-studded battle. The Leafs come into this game second in the Atlantic Division and the Flyers fourth in the Metropolitan Division. What was sure to be a close offensive battle quickly turned into the Leafs dominating the Flyers for three consecutive periods. 

What started this domination was an extremely controversial goal scored by William Nylander in the second period to make the score 1-0. The play started in the neutral zone where Justin Holl intercepted the puck to stop the Flyers’ breakout. Holl passed the puck to Michael Bunting who quickly dished it to Auston Mathews waiting on the blue line. Mathews one-touch passes the puck to a speeding Jake Muzzin who was gaining the Flyers zone. Muzzin attempts to throw the puck to the net to create a chance for Nylander but takes a high awkward bounce off Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim. While in the air, it seemed to perfectly land at Nylander’s foot. It then appears as if Nylander kicks the puck in the net. The call was originally no goal. Upon further review, the refs indicated that he did not kick the puck in the net and it was a good goal. When asked about the goal Nylander stated he didn’t know if he kicked it in or not. 

“I didn’t really know if I kicked it in or not but when I got back to the bench they told me it was a goal. So I was pretty confident it was a goal,” said Nylander.

Nylander would go on to score another goal this time on the power play in the third period and Ondrej Kase would seal the deal-making it 3-0 with five minutes left to play. 

The Flyers struggled on the power play going 0-4. The Flyers’ power play this season has been below average as they are ranked 18 in the league in power-play percentage. During their power play, it seemed that they had a tough time possessing the puck as the Leafs had a very aggressive defense style. Head Coach for the Flyers Alain Vigneault stated in his post-game interview, “our power play drained us of a little bit of momentum and energy. We weren’t very efficient so we’ll be better next game.” 

The Flyers play their next game against the Carolina Hurricanes who have the 10th best penalty kill in the NHL. If the Flyers want to find success they will need to figure things out on the power play.

La Salle TV presents “SportsLine” Season 24 Episode 8

Click below to watch this week’s episode of “SportsLine.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuAGcb4NZJU

– ©La Salle TV — SportsLine 2021

Enrique Carrasco, Editor 

Men’s Basketball was off to a hot start in their season opener against Sacred Heart University in the Tom Gola Arena.  At the end of the first half, the Explorers led the Sacred Heart Pioneers 30 to 26. Despite this lead, the Explorers allowed 19 unanswered points in the final six minutes of the second half, allowing the Pioneers to take the lead with two minutes left in the game. Despite this turn of events, the Explorers were able to mount a comeback late in the game and put themselves three points ahead of the Pioneers. After a missed free throw shot from the Explorers that would have put the game away for the Pioneers, the Pioneers were able to hit a buzzer-beating 3-point shot, sending the game into overtime. The Explorers failed to stop the Pioneers in overtime, allowing them to score 19 total points in only five minutes. Offensively, the Explorers heavily struggled to keep up with Pioneers, putting up only 14 points in overtime, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Explorers. 

The real story behind the Explorers’ loss comes at the hands of all the missed free throws. Despite a Pioneer receiving a technical foul after slamming the ball against the floor, the Explorers failed to score a single free throw given to them from this foul. Throughout the entire game, the Explorers only scored six out of their 14 total free throws; in comparison, the Pioneers scored 11 out of their 16 free throws. These five extra scored free throws from the Pioneers managed to cement the loss for the Explorers.

Despite the at-home loss, the team put on a promising performance. The Explorers amounted to 15 out of 40 three-pointers made, and the defense managed to, at times, show that they were a real threat. The Explorers’ defense managed to come away with six steals, all of which resulted in points, as well as three shots being blocked. Junior guard Josh Nickelberry led the team in points, going 8-17 in field goals, but making zero of three free throws. Nickelberry finished the game with 22 total points and was a vital part of the Explorer’s offense. 

Next up, the Explorers face off against the Albany Great Danes at their Homecoming game on Saturday, Nov. 13, at Tom Gola Arena. Make sure to come out and form a part of La Salle’s student section: the Explorer Entourage.  

KC Medico, Staff 

The second place Philadelphia 76ers faced off against the third place Chicago Bulls in a showdown that came down to the wire. Seth Curry was the one to hit the dagger that would put the game on ice and Joel Embiid who saved their lead with a monster block resulting in the Sixers winning 103-98. 

Coming into this game, the Sixers were missing three of their starters: Ben Simmons who continues to sit out due to mental health issues, Danny Green out with a hamstring injury and Tobias Harris who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. The 76ers needed to rely on their remaining starters Seth Curry and Joel Embiid to get the job done. 

Curry has been hot by  starting the season averaging 17.1 points and is second in the NBA in three point percentage shooting at 54.1 percent. His hot streak continued into this game where he finished with a statline of 22 points, went 9-for-14 from the field, and five rebounds. 

In a post-game interview, Doc Rivers stated, “You know what he’s doing better, everybody knows who he is now and last year I thought if you got physical with him, they could take him off the ball and deny the catches.” 

Rivers also added that, “Now he’s being relentless in getting open and once he gets open with Joel (Embiid) coming, it’s a tough cover for anyone so we put them in that coverage.”

Joel Embiid had a quiet game putting up 18 points. However, he got a crucial block in the final seconds of the game and with 10 seconds left, the Bulls had a chance to cut the deficit to a one score game. Lonzo Ball inbounded the ball to DeMar DeRozan at the top of the key. DeRozan got a block which allowed him to get a clear path to the basket. He went up for the dunk but out of nowhere Embiid came swooping in to block the dunk attempt to officially seal the game. The call on the floor was initially a foul but upon further review it was clear Embiid got nothing but the ball. 

There were a few headaches along the way to this win for the Sixers, as DeRozan had his third 30-point game in a row finishing with a total 37 points. With help from Zach Lavine who finished with 27 points, the two got on a hot streak to tie the game with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. If not for great plays from Curry and Embiid, the outcome of this game would have favored the Bulls. 

The Sixers will move on trying to continue their early push for the first place spot in the Eastern Conference as Curry and Embiid try to stay hot with their three other starters out to start the season.