La Salle Looks To Build On 'Nova Win At Rider
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – After a thrilling overtime win in Big 5 action over Villanova on Sunday (77-74), the La Salle Explorers now turn their focus to Thursday night when they will visit Rider.
The win was the first for La Salle against the Wildcats since November of 2001 and Explorers head coach Dr. John Giannini was very happy to get it.
"It's certainly a great, emotional win over a great program that's been extremely strong nationally for a lot of years," Giannini tells KYW Newsradio.
La Salle is now 3-1 on the season, but Giannini says they haven't yet hit their stride.
"We still need to get better," Giannini says. "We still need to pass the ball a little better, our defense has to get more consistent. And certainly we need to try to play our best every game. That sounds very simple, but very few teams do that."
LISTEN: Matt Leon interviews Dr. John Giannini
Rider is 4-3 on the season and last time out, they beat UW-Milwaukee 74-60 in Puerto Rico. Giannini says he expects a tough match-up against the Broncs.
"Rider has outstanding players. They have guys who can play in the A-10. (Junior guard) Nurideen Lindsey is a Philly person and a great high school player from the area and he is a high level player. Their other guards have size and athleticism and can shoot."
Lindsey leads Rider in scoring at 15.6 points per game.
Junior guard Tyreek Duren is high man for La Salle at 15.5 points a game. Senior guard Ramon Galloway is right behind him at 15.3 points a contest.
La Salle and Rider tip-off at 7:00pm on Thursday up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
