La Salle’s defensive woes prove costly in loss to Richmond

La Salle couldn’t contain Richmond’s inside attack, gave up a late run, and lost, 84-75, to the Spiders at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday.

The Explorers (8-18, 6-8 Atlantic 10) were outscored, 49-20, in the paint and gave up eight three-pointers on 16 Richmond attempts. La Salle guard Isiah Deas drained a corner three around the two-minute mark to tie things at 75, but the team collapsed from there, allowing a 5-0 run, capped by a bank-shot three-pointer from Spiders sophomore center Grant Golden.

Golden led an effective inside attack through both scoring and passing, but it was his three-pointer that sealed the game. He finished with 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

“He’s very crafty around the post,” La Salle coach Ashley Howard said. “He used his body to create angles to score inside. We wanted to try to make it difficult for him, but he got going early and once he got going he actually was able to start finding some teammates.”

Richmond (12-15, 6-8) shot 66.7 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from three-point range on 16 attempts.

Howard said the team’s energy following a two-game road trip in the last seven days may have impacted the defensive intensity.

“We didn’t come out with any fire, or a sense of urgency,” Howard said. “We looked sluggish at times, and you can’t play that way against a team like Richmond.... Today they got whatever they wanted on the offensive end and we were never able to really gain control of the game."

Senior guard Pookie Powell led the Explorers with 13 points in the second half. He finished with 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting.

“He was Batman today, but we didn’t necessarily have a Robin step up for us in the second half,” Howard said.

La Salle trailed for the majority of the first half, but used a 12-4 run to finish the first 20 minutes down, 44-43. Deas paced the Explorers with 13 points, and Powell netted 11.

Sophomore guard Jamir Moultrie was carried off during the second half after getting rolled up. He spent the rest of the game on the bench icing his left knee.

Howard said Moultrie will be evaluated day-to-day and the injury is likely not serious enough to cause the Washington, D.C. native to miss significant time.

The Explorers entered with a two-game losing streak, including a 62-60 road loss to St. Bonaventure which ended in controversy after a clock mistake affected La Salle’s final possession.

This was the second meeting between the two teams this month, with the Explorers picking up a 66-58 road win on Feb. 2.