La Salle loses at Dayton, 79-75
DAYTON, Ohio - With his team being lauded for its unexpected success out of the gate in Atlantic 10 Conference play, La Salle coach John Giannini had downplayed the praise by invoking an it's-a-long-season mantra.
DAYTON, Ohio - With his team being lauded for its unexpected success out of the gate in Atlantic 10 Conference play, La Salle coach John Giannini had downplayed the praise by invoking an it's-a-long-season mantra.
The Explorers' performance on Saturday night validated why Giannini has had that approach. An opportunity to remain alone atop the A-10 standings fell by the wayside as La Salle fell short in a 79-75 loss to Dayton at University of Dayton Arena.
La Salle had a chance to tie the game, but sophomore Sam Mills' three-pointer from the top of the key ricocheted off the front of the rim with eight seconds remaining. Dayton's Paul Williams grabbed the long rebound.
La Salle (13-5, 2-1 A-10) had a six-game winning streak snapped, and the Explorers suffered their first Atlantic 10 loss after victories against five-time defending regular-season champion Xavier and Massachusetts.
Having won 11 of its previous 12 games - and six straight - La Salle entered Saturday riding a wave of confidence. Although the Explorers still don't look like a team that in the preseason was picked to finish next-to-last in the A-10, they did themselves no favors in the first two minutes of the game.
La Salle fell behind 7-0, and trailed the entire game. The Explorers chipped away at the deficit the rest of the first half, drawing to within one point (28-27) on senior Earl Pettis' three-pointer with 4:32 remaining.
But Dayton immediately answered with a 9-0 run, hitting three-pointers during the flurry to take a 37-27 lead on junior Kevin Dillard's long jumper from atop the key.
The Explorers, who start four guards, struggled to defend athletic 6-foot-9 forwards Matt Kavanaugh (23 points) and Luke Fabrizius (14 points). Kavanaugh, who grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, entered averaging just 7.7 points per game. Meanwhile, Fabrizius came in averaging just 6.4 points.
With his team down 40-29 at halftime, Giannini opted to start 6-11 freshman Steve Zack in the second half. But Kavanaugh and Fabrizius combined to score 21 points in the second half.
Junior Ramon Galloway drained a three-pointer from the right corner with 1:38 remaining to draw La Salle to within three points at 78-75.