La Salle’s rally falls short against Fordham in A-10 quarterfinals
An 0-for-7 effort from beyond the arc in the first half helped sink the Explorers, but coach Fran Dunphy was "grateful to have the opportunity to coach kids like this."
NEW YORK — There won’t be any Philly teams in the Atlantic 10 semifinals.
Ninth-seeded La Salle lost to third-seeded Fordham, 69-61, in the A-10 tournament quarterfinals at the Barclays Center just hours after second-seeded Dayton ousted 10th-seeded St. Joseph’s.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” sophomore guard Khalil Brantley said. “The resiliency for us to get through a lot of adversity, coming off a losing streak, and then to come to the tournament and make some noise — we were the 11-seed playing the three-seed in the quarterfinals.”
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In what felt like a home atmosphere for the local Rams, Fordham shot 46.4% from the field, took the lead about five minutes in, and never surrendered it.
A steal and fast-break layup by junior guard Jhamir Brickus closed the gap to four with 1 minute, 10 seconds left, but Fordham’s Darius Quisenberry hit a three-pointer to put the Rams back out of reach.
“It’s what college basketball is all about,” La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy said. “You get these runs — runs in games, runs in seasons. I’m just so grateful to have the opportunity to coach kids like this.”
Brantely led the Explorers (15-19) with 18 points, followed by Brickus with 13. They also pulled down five rebounds apiece. Sophomore guard Daeshon Shepherd (Archbishop Wood) finished with six points and a team-high eight boards.
“We did everything we could to keep the ball out of [Brantley and Brickus’] hands,” Fordham head coach Keith Urgo said. “We blitz ball-screened sometimes, and they still go off. I mean, they’re that talented. So, one-on-one, you’re gonna have a very difficult time stopping them. So we just tried to mix up looks, forced tough contested twos, which I think we did a really good job of, but, again, they still made some really difficult shots because they’re extremely talented.”
Fordham (25-7) will face No. 2 Dayton in the semifinals on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBSSN).
Struggles from three
The difference-maker for the Rams in the first half was La Salle’s dismal shooting from three. The Explorers failed to sink a single three-pointer in the first half, going 0-for-7. By contrast, Fordham shot 25% from deep in the first half, going 3-for-12, which was enough for them to build a nine-point lead at the break.
The Rams defended the rim, too, notching six of their 10 blocks in the first half, while the Explorers had zero. Rostyslav Novitskyi finished with six blocks, five in the first half.
Almost every Explorer practiced shooting from behind the arc during warmups following halftime, and it paid off as they shot 38.5% from deep in the second half.
“When we came back into the locker room, I looked at my guys and I was telling them, ‘We work on this every day, so just shoot it with confidence,’” Brickus said.
Comeback attempt just short
La Salle went to the locker room down, 34-23. It was reminiscent of its regular-season meeting with the Rams on Jan. 14, where La Salle found itself down eight after the opening 20 minutes.
On that occasion, La Salle clawed back to tie it with 14 seconds remaining in the game. The Explorers weren’t able to repeat the feat on Thursday night, however.
The Explorers’ first three-pointer of the game, courtesy of Brantley, brought La Salle within two with 16:49 remaining, but Fordham fought back to a double-digit advantage.
Quisenbery finished with 22 points, while graduate forward Khalid Moore had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Rams.
“We had some tough times in certain segments of the year,” Dunphy said. “We always found a way to fight back, and I thought we tried that tonight. We needed to play here, play there, maybe a missed shot here or there from the Fordham guys. I’m proud of my guys, proud of every one of them. How hard they fought, their energy and enthusiasm, the growth every day, whether it was a game or practice situation. So, proud of them, sorry to see our season end. I’ll remember this very fondly, this whole opportunity that I’ve had.”