La Salle Visits Rhode Island Thursday In A-10 Action
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- It will be a key road game for the La Salle Explorers on Thursday night as they visit the University of Rhode Island in Atlantic 10 action.
La Salle is 10-8 this season and 2-3 in the Atlantic 10 after beating Fordham on Saturday, 60-49, at Gola Arena. The Explorers got it done with defense against the Rams, holding them to 32% shooting from the floor. This came a game after the Explorers allowed Dayton to shoot 64% from the field in the second half of a 61-50 La Salle loss. La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini says this continues a trend this season of not having much middle ground when it comes to how they defend.
"When you look at us half by half," Giannini tells KYW Newsradio, "we're either holding people in the 30's, in terms of their field goal percentage, or in the 50's or 60's, which is seriously not good defense."
Listen to Dr. John Giannini with KYW's Matt Leon:
La Salle continues to be paced on offense by Jordan Price. The redshirt sophomore guard is averaging 16.9 ppg. The Explorers are also getting a boost in the scoring column from another redshirt sophomore guard in Cleon Roberts. He has cracked double digits in each of the last seven games and that has pushed his scoring average up to 9.7 ppg.
"He's really gotten better," Giannini says. "He struggled early on. You know a lot of times I'll look at a guy who sat out a year and is a little bit older as being so physically ready. They've done so much in terms of strength and conditioning and skill work and they're ready to go. But sometimes I forget that they still need to get on the court, in front of big crowds and against tough teams, in competitive situations and get comfortable. I just think Cleon's continued to get better and he's continued to get more comfortable and I'm really pleased with how he's developing. He's a much better player now than he was a month or two ago."
Rhode Island will bring an 11-5 record (3-2 in the A-10) into Thursday's night's game. Giannini says they pose quite a challenge.
"They can get to the rim, they can post-up, they can defend," Giannini says. "I think they're the kind of team you've got to make them try to beat you from the outside and boy if they're shooting the ball well, they can beat probably anyone."
La Salle has won four straight games against Rhode Island. Their last meeting came last January 15th, the Explorers grabbing a 72-62 decision at Gola Arena.
Thursday night's game is set for a 7:00pm tip-off in Kingston, Rhode Island.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
