By Paul Gotham
BROOKLYN — La Salle’s Explorers managed to keep in check the first two scoring options of the UMass Minutemen. It was a different threat in the UMass attack which nearly made the difference.
Jordan Price led three in double figures as the No. 9-seed Explorers outlasted the No. 8-seed Minutemen, 76-69 and advanced to Friday’s quarter-finals.
Price netted a game-high 28 on 6 of 16 shooting including 2 of 7 behind the arc. His three-pointer coming out of a timeout stopped an 8-0 UMass run early in the second half.
“Our main focus was defense,” Price said of the discussion during the break. “We know we are going to get the shots, open shots, and had to knock them down.”
Price took a Johnnie Shuler feed and used a Steve Zack ball screen to hit a pull-up three at the top of the arc.
“We know Jordan can score,” Zack said. “Everyone in the country knows he’s a scorer. He does a great job. If he has shots, he knocks them down.”
The shot made it a two-point game at 38-36 with 17:31 to go.
“We beat a team that is a very good team,” La Salle’s head coach John Giannini said. “One that’s hard for us to matchup with.”
Zack capped a 6-0 spurt where the Explorers used the free throw line exclusively. It was part of an overall effort which saw La Salle hit 25 of 33 from the charity stripe as a team.
“In this game we got to the free throw line more because we were going through the contact,” Giannini said. “We were just playing a little bit stronger. We didn’t turn it over as much because we were just physically stronger with the ball in our hands against the pressure.”
La Salle led 46-45 and never trailed again.
The UMass front court of Cady Lalanne and Maxie Esho came into the game combining for more than 23 points and 15 rebounds. La Salle held the pair near their average, but it was Donte Clark who almost tipped the scales for UMass.
“He was probably our best offensive player hands down for most of the game,” UMass head coach Derek Kellogg stated. “When he plays that way, he’s pretty tough on the offensive end of the floor.”
Clark matched a career-high with a game-high 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting. The freshman came in scoring 9.2 per game.
“It’s been a conscious thing for me for a while to try to get him going, because I think he’s a kid that has a good upside and can really score the ball,” Kellogg added. “Somebody who should be some double digits most of the time. And he’s starting to really get that hunger and that toughness and that desire to do that.”
Clark scored six straight UMass points to make it a two-point game with less than four minutes remaining. The 6-4 guard grabbed a Trey Davis three-point attempt and finished at the rim. He hit a floater in the lane and his tap in made it a 60-58 game.
“I was really happy to see was the offensive rebounding in his putbacks,” Kellogg said. “That was something he hasn’t done and then some of the drives he made in tough plays was nice to see.”
Clark’s catch-and-shoot three on an inside-out pass from Esho made it a 64-63 game with 2:05 to go. It was as close as UMass would get.
La Salle quickly responded with a 6-2 spurt to take command of the game.
Khalid Lewis answered at the other end with a 3-pointer from the right corner. With the shot clock running down took an inside out pass from Wright, glanced at the shot clock and let it fly.
“I just knew the shot clock was running down,” Lewis said. “I had to get a shot off. I seen Jerrell. I knew he wasn’t going to shoot no three. I had to take a tough shot.”
Price and Roberts converted six straight free throws for a 73-67 lead.
“You know, free throw shooting is such a huge factor in winning basketball games,” Giannini noted. “And unlike many of the other things in basketball, you can’t make more by trying harder. You can’t make more by drawing something up on a clipboard. You can’t make more by game planning. So, you know, hopefully you have good shooters with some poise.”
Roberts followed with one of the many key La Salle defensive plays of the day when he took a charge on Trey Davis.
“Getting stops, just multiple stops in a row,” Price said. “That’s what we basically focused on, is if we can get three stops in a row or more, that’s good for us. You know, defense leads the offense and that’s what happened tonight for us.”
Zack tallied 12 and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Wright had seven points and game-high four assists.
Lalanne finished with 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
La Salle committed just eight turnovers.
UMass had the advantage in the paint (34-28), off turnovers (14-6) and second-chance points (23-17). The Minutemen hit just 13 of 20 free throws.
La Salle plays No. 1-seed Davidson in the quarter-finals.
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