La Salle bumps off Binghamton

Facing a Binghamton team that had won only three of its 12 games this season, La Salle took care of business today in a nonleague basketball game at Tom Gola Arena.

The Explorers built on a 14-point halftime lead and ran away from the Bearcats during the last 20 minutes on their way to an 87-64 victory that snapped La Salle's four-game losing streak.

Binghamton trailed by 63-40 with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game, and it was 79-50 with less than eight minutes left.

"We had to put everything into this game," said freshman guard Tyreek Duren, whose 18 points topped five La Salle scorers in double figures. Among them was guard Ruben Guillandeaux (10), who missed the Explorer's overtime loss to Towson on Wednesday after coming down with the flu.

La Salle, which evened its record to 7-7, will open its Atlantic Ten schedule on Wednesday at George Washington. The Explorers' only out-of-conference game left is a Big Five encounter against visiting Penn on Jan. 12.

"Unless you have a tremendous team, or a team that's really struggling, every night is going to a challenge," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "It depends on how you play that night."

Coached by former Temple star Mark Macon, in his second season as the team's interim leader, Binghamton had dropped three in a row after winning back-to-back games at Manhattan and at home against Cornell.

Greer Wright, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, is the only double-figures scorer for a Binghamton squad that also included freshman guards Robert Mansell (Cheltenham High) and Sicklerville's K.J. Brown (Living Faith Christian Academy).

Wright, who entered he contest averaging 15.3 points per game and finished with 20, had 16 during the first half. The Bearcats are 3-10.

"The killed us on the glass," Macon said, pointing out La Salle's 44-23 rebounding advantage. "The program is always in progress as we try to get better. Right now, we're at a point where we're stagnant. It's been tough. We have to keep fighting."

La Salle, which fell by three points at home to then-No. 12 Villanova on Dec. 12, followed that with consecutive losses to three teams with considerably less pedigree in Bucknell, Rider and Towson, opponents that the Explorers were expected to defeat.

"We lost three straight games to teams that weren't so good," Duren said.

Binghamton also fell into that category. But in the only previous meeting between the teams - Jan. 3, 2010 - the host Bearcats went on an 18-0 run midway through the second half and sent La Salle home with a 66-61 loss.

In the rematch, the Bearcats and the Explorers were tied seven times during the first 20 minutes, and there were five lead changes. Binghamton was behind by only one at 30-29 with 6 minutes, 38 seconds left in the first half. The Explorers then ran off six quick points to go up by nine, and they led by 41-31 with 4:03 showing on the clock.

After guard Sam Mills knocked down a shot from beyond the arc with 1.6 seconds to go, La Salle had a 52-38 lead at the break.

"I know they got us last year, but this game we were just focused on playing hard and trying to feel good going into the A-10," said forward Jerrell Williams, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. "A great way to start the new year. 1-0."