PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men’s basketball defeated Boston University, 70-53, on Thursday evening to record its eighth straight win at Tom Gola Arena, dating back to last season, which breaks an all-time record for consecutive victories at the venue.
La Salle (9-4) has now won seven of its last eight contests.
“I was very pleased,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “Our effort was good. We took care of the ball. Our defense was good, not great.”
Sophomore Tyreek Duren led all scorers with 23 points, one shy of his career-high, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
“The thing I’ve always liked about Tyreek is that he always makes the right play,” Giannini said. “He doesn’t care if he scores zero points…. He will do whatever the game calls for, which I think is the highest compliment you can give a point guard.”
Senior Devon White and freshman Jerrell Wright each chipped in eight rebounds. Wright scored 10 points and junior Ramon Galloway had 13 to round out the Explorers double-figure scorers.
La Salle continued holding the opposing team’s leading scorer under his average. Tonight, it was Boston University’s Darryl Partin, who scored just 12, less than his average of 20.8 points per game. Partin played two seasons at La Salle before transferring. Malik Thomas led the Terriers with 17 points.
The Explorers shot .455 from the field, while holding the Terriers to .400 shooting.
Duren helped get the Explorers on the board early. He hit two straight threes and then stole the ball and took it to the hoop to give La Salle a 10-3 lead just over five minutes into the contest.
“I had to be a little more aggressive today because Ramon wasn’t starting and we were playing without Sam [Mills],” Duren said.
Mills would not dress for the game, sitting out with an ankle injury. He is day-to-day.
The Explorers used an 11-0 run to take a 25-8 lead with 10:08 remaining in the first.
La Salle extended its lead to as many as 19, twice, in the first half. Pettis sunk a three a just over the seven minute mark to give the Explorers a 33-14 edge. Galloway again made it a 19-point margin after hitting two free throws with 3:48 left in the first.
BU used a 6-1 run in the final 3:25 of the half to close the lead to 43-29 at the break.
The Explorers let BU (4-9) get as close as 12 at the outset of the second half, but clamped down on defense again to hold BU to .346 shooting in the second period.
Back-to-back baskets by D.J. Peterson and Earl Pettis gave La Salle a 25-point lead, its largest of the game, with just over 11 minutes to play. The Explorers worked with at least a 15-point lead for the remainder of the game.
La Salle returns to competition in two days when it hosts Hartford on New Year’s Eve. The contest is set to begin at 2 p.m.
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