WEST HARTFORD, CONN. – The La Salle men’s basketball team raced to a 12-point advantage after six minutes and earned a 64-51 victory at Hartford on Tuesday afternoon at Chase Arena. Junior Tyreek Duren had a team-high 15 points, including 13 in the second half, while redshirt freshman Rohan Brown had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in a homecoming to his hometown of Hartford.
Sophomore Jerrell Wright also reached double-figures with 14 points, all coming in the first half. He added nine rebounds. Senior Ramon Galloway chipped in with 13 points.
Two days after allowing 81 points in a loss to Central Connecticut State, the Explorers (2-1) turned up the pressure on the Hawks and forced 16 turnovers. Hartford shot 36.5% from the field and managed just 51 points.
“We played defense the way we want to,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “That was the biggest factor in the game.”
La Salle controlled the boards, holding a 36-26 advantage, and scored 22 points in the paint thanks to the lunch-pail efforts of Brown and Wright.
For Brown, who set career-highs in both points and rebounds in his third collegiate game, playing a few minutes from home was exciting.
“It felt good to be back home,” Brown said. “I had a lot of family and friends in the stands today.”
His head coach raved about his freshman following the game.
“Rohan had a great game,” Giannini said. “Our vision for him was to rebound like a big guy but to be able to pass and be a good decision maker like a guard. He’s the only guy in our program like that. He brings the physical toughness of a big guy and the decision-making and low turnovers of a guard.”
La Salle led by as many as 20 points in the contest early in the second half and held a double-digit advantage for the entire second half.
Hartford (1-3) was led by Mark Nwakamma, who had 16 points.
The Blue and Gold host Big 5 rival Villanova on Sunday at 1 PM. The game will be broadcast nationally by CBS Sports Network with John Sadak and Mike Gminski on the call.
NOTES: La Salle improves to 5-0 all-time vs. the Hawks and 22-4 against current members of the America East Conference…The Explorers are also 18-5 all-time in the state of Connecticut…Hartford head coach John Gallagher is a former La Salle assistant, as is Hawk assistant Bill Dooley.
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