Basketball: La Salle Welcomes Northeastern to Gola Arena
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The La Salle Explorers will try to move above .500 tonight as they host Northeastern at Gola Arena.
La Salle sits at 3-3. Last time out, on Saturday, they beat Rider at the Palestra in the final game of the Philly Hoop Group Classic, 82-70.
In that game, junior guard Ramon Galloway led the way with 21 points, which was a welcome sight for Explorers' head coach Dr. John Giannini after Galloway had missed time this season with a concussion.
"He was obviously a little rusty in his first game back (loss to Robert Morris on Friday)," Giannini tells KYW Newsradio. "It's hard to jump in after being out for two weeks. But in just his second game, he had a tremendous impact. And we really needed him because (senior guard) Earl Pettis dislocated his finger 11 minutes into the game."
Pettis' status for tonight's game against the Huskies is unknown.
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Northeastern is 3-1, and Giannini says they present a tough challenge.
"They're coming off a very impressive 14-point win (78-64) at St. John's. They did it with outstanding guard play. They have a couple of guards who are veteran and can really score."
Giannini says his squad will have to do a good job on the glass tonight to be successful.
"Our rebounding has been a problem throughout this year. It was in the first half against Rider, they outrebounded us in the first half, I think, by maybe ten rebounds. Second half, I think, we outrebounded them by 15."
Tipoff at Gola Arena is set for 7pm tonight.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060
