La Salle Welcomes UMass To Gola Arena Tonight
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The La Salle Explorers will be back at Gola Arena tonight as they welcome UMass to town for an Atlantic 10 clash.
The Explorers are 8-6 this season and coming off a loss in their A-10 opener on Saturday as they fell on the road to George Mason, 70-62.
"What I took out of the game is what I already knew," La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini tells KYW Newsradio. "If you're not at your best, you're probably not going to win an Atlantic 10 game. I felt like we had a chance to take control of the game early and led throughout the first half, but we had some breakdowns, physically and mentally, towards the end of the first half where they cut it to three. And in the second half they just played with tremendous confidence."
Listen to Dr. John Giannini with KYW's Matt Leon:
George Mason held La Salle's Jordan Price in check as the Explorers guard scored just two points on 1 for 11 shooting. Despite the off night, the redshirt sophomore is really putting together a fine season. He is leading the Explorers in scoring, pouring in 17.5 points per game. Giannini says he expected Price to thrive offensively.
"I did think he could be our best scorer," Giannini says. "I did think he was as good offensively as the best players in the league. So I'm not surprised by that. But Jordan's like all of us, we all have to continue to improve on our defense, on our passing and on the simple things that win basketball games."
UMass is 7-7 this season and they are also coming off a loss in their A-10 opener, as they dropped a 69-55 decision to St. Bonaventure on Saturday.
"I think it's going to be an extremely intense game," Giannini says. "Not only because it's two good teams and a conference game, but because both of us are coming off a loss. They have great size, they have great athleticism."
La Salle has won seven of the last ten meetings between the two schools, but last season it was the Minutemen picking up a 79-67 win up in Amherst.
Tonight's game gets underway at 7:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
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