By Paul Gotham
BROOKLYN — When pushed back on your heels, come out swinging.
For the better of their Atlantic 10 quarter-final meeting with the La Salle Explorers, the No. 1-seed Davidson Wildcats played outside their comfort zone.
They found a timely haymaker.
Tyler Kalinoski‘s off-balance layup at the buzzer gave the Wildcats a 67-66 victory over the No. 9-seed Explorers.
“When I shot it, I knew it had a chance to go in,” Kalinoski said. “Luckily it did.”
Kalinoski took a Brian Sullivan feed and drove left between a trio of La Salle defenders and finished over the outstretched arms of 6-10 Jerrell Wright.
“Coach always tell us to shoot it high, because if you shoot it high, you give it a better chance to go in the basket,” Kalinoski explained. “When I saw the shot‑blocker coming over, I definitely knew I had to get it as high as I could.”
The sequence started at the other end of the floor when Jack Gibbs grabbed a defensive rebound. Coach Bob McKillop opted to not use a timeout and let his players make plays.
“The way they were defending us, we were having a lot of time to create offense,” McKillop explained. “When you get a team in transition backpedalling, no communication from the bench because it’s far away; our guys are talented enough that they could make plays.”
To the last play, La Salle’s defense pushed Davidson. The Explorers forced Kalinoski left and his shot bounced around the cylinder momentarily before falling.
“I looked up, there was about four or five seconds left,” Kalinoski recalled. “I just told myself, you know, attack the rim…Then I made a move, saw the lane open, saw the shot‑blocker coming over…I don’t know if I was going for glass or not.”
The shot capped a comeback which saw the Wildcats rally from a nine-point halftime deficit and as many as 18 down in the first half.
“I’ve been with this team, six, seven months, and after all we’ve been through, I’m still shocked to have a performance like we had today, come back like we did today, still shocks me,” McKillop said. “These guys will forever be shocking me with how poised they are, how selfless they are, how team oriented they are, what extraordinary teammates they are.
Davidson came into the game leading the nation with an assist to turnover rate of 1.9 along with heading the A-10 in points (77.1) and second in with a free throw percentage of 70.7.
La Salle forced 10 turnovers to 15 Davidson assists. Whether the defensive pressure had a residual effect or not, the Wildcats shot just 38.5 percent (5 of 13) from the charity stripe.
Davidson switched defenses coming out of timeouts during the game. The Wildcats settled upon a 1-3-1 zone which held La Salle without a point for the final 4:45.
“On our last possession, we were going to go man,” McKillop said. “It was completely the assistants’ call. And there’s the trust factor again. I’m trusting these guys and it’s extraordinary to have that relationship.”
With seniors Wright and Steve Zack leading the way, the Explorers raced to an 18-point lead in the first half.
“Our seniors were absolutely amazing,” La Salle’s John Giannini stated. “The stats show that. Your eyes could have seen it. They played with incredible effort and pride and togetherness, and they displayed everything that a coach appreciates and admires.”
The front court tandem combined for 31 of La Salle’s 46 halftime points with Zack registering a double-double in the first 20 with 10 rebounds.
“Just being aggressive inside,” Wright said. “Me and Steve knew that we can get the ball inside and score over their bigs. So the first half, we just want to just be aggressive and look for each other down low.”
Davidson limited the La Salle forward to 12 points after the break.
“We came out in the second half and we played the post entry a little bit differently,” McKillop explained. “We had played on the top shoulder of the post and then we sat behind his butt after that. So that if he did catch it, at least he wasn’t in a position where he was sliding off of us. We had to actually put a wall up so that his only option was to turn into the paint, rather than drop baseline.”
Gibbs led Davidson with 22 points. Kalinoski followed with 18 while Sullivan and Jordan Barham added 12.
Zack notched a career and game-high 24 points with a game-high rebounds. Wright had 19. D.J. Peterson added 19.
“I thought John Giannini and his team put us on our heels with an outstanding effort, and it’s sad that a team that is winning for 39 minutes and 59 seconds has to go home and lose, my heart feels for John and his team,” McKillop said.”
The Wildcats will take on the winner of the VCU-Richmond game.
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