Poor second-half shooting effort puts La Salle on latter end of a 91-74 final against Duquesne

The Explorers dropped another critical Atlantic-10 matchup, this time to Duquesne, 91-74, inside Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday night.

Senior guard Josh Nickelberry set a season-high in points with 28 as he tried to spark a La Salle (13-15, 7-8 A-10) comeback, but it wasn’t enough down the stretch. Duquesne out-rebounded the Explorers, grabbing 33 boards to La Salle’s 30. The shots were falling more for the Dukes, too, with Duquesne shooting 55.6% and the Explorers collectively shooting 40.7%. For Duquesne, 52 of its 91 points came in the paint.

“We gave up some easy baskets. But you’re trading the inside stuff,” head coach Fran Dunphy said. “They’re a notoriously terrific three-point jump-shooting team; pick your poison. We tried to limit how many threes they had on the perimeter, and that left them open inside.”

Joe Reece led the Dukes (19-9, 9-6) with 16 points. Dae Dae Grant, Austin Rotroff and RJ Gunn added 10 apiece.

In a game where La Salle looked to close in on the Dukes for the fifth spot in the conference standings, the Explorers fell to eighth place as the A-10 tournament kicks off next week.

» READ MORE: ‘A great team with great kids’: La Salle to honor 1989-90 Explorers team that had most wins in school history

La Salle found itself in a hole early. After a shot-clock violation on its first possession of the game, La Salle hit just one of its first 7 field goal attempts. Duquesne capitalized, jumping out to as much as an 11-point lead in the first half.

“We have to be more prepared. And that’s on me. I gotta get us more prepared, early on in the game, to take the ball and get it inside, and try to make some baskets inside,” Dunphy said.

The Explorers battled back, however, with shots from behind the arc. Hassan Drame went 2-for-2 from long range in the first half. Coming off the bench, Josh Nickelberry was 4-for-5 on three-point attempts in the same span. La Salle’s collective 60% shooting from three in the first half to Duquesne’s 45% fueled what appear to be an Explorerscomeback.

“When [Nickelberry] gets it going, he’s great. I thought he made some tough shots, too,” Dunphy said. “They weren’t leaving him that wide open. I thought he got himself into some pretty good spots to catch and shoot.”

It was a Nickelberry three-pointer that tied the game, 38-38, with 30 seconds left in the first half. Duquesne responded with a three-pointer of their own to retake the lead as the clock ticked down.

Another slow start in the second half put the Explorers further behind, and the Dukes’ lead ballooned to 20 in the second half. It didn’t help that La Salle shot just 23.1% in the second half.

» READ MORE: 'A great team with great kids:' A trip down memory lane with La Salle's 1989-90 NCAA Tournament team

The Explorers entered Wednesday’s contest ranked 34th in the nation in bench points per game, averaging 25.56 points. The bench exploded for 40 points against the Dukes, more than half of La Salle’s total offense. While that statistic showcases the offensive depth of La Salle’s lineup, it still wasn’t enough.

Leading the way was Nickelberry, while Daeshon Shepherd added six points, Anwar Gill chipped in four, and Rokas Jocius added two.

The Explorers will hit the road for a two-game swing, visiting George Washington on Feb. 25, and Dayton on Feb. 28 to close out the season.