La Salle comeback falls short in loss to Dayton, 79-75

DAYTON, Ohio - With his team being lauded for its unexpected success out of the gate in Atlantic Ten play, La Salle coach John Giannini early this week 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. La Salle's opportunity to remain alone atop the A-10 standings fell by the wayside as the Explorers' rally attempt fell short in a 79-75 loss to Dayton in front of 12,580 at University of Dayton Arena.

La Salle (13-5, 2-1 A-10) had a six-game winning streak snapped, and the Explorers suffered their first A-10 loss after victories against defending regular-season champion Xavier and Massachusetts.

Still, the ever-improving Explorers so far look nothing like the team that some expected them to be in A-10 play. La Salle continued to show it is better than its next-to-last-place preseason prediction.

And it's not like the Explorers are using that prediction as motivation.

"That means nothing to us," said Giannini, grimacing. "We have never even talked about it."

Playing in one of the A-10's loudest venues, La Salle had a chance to tie the score in the waning seconds. But sophomore Sam Mills' three-pointer from the top of the key ricocheted off the front of the rim with eight seconds remaining, and Dayton's Paul Williams grabbed the long rebound.

Having won 11 of its previous 12 games, La Salle entered riding a wave of confidence. But the Explorers did themselves no favors in the opening 90 seconds of the game, falling behind by 7-0. La Salle trailed the entire game.

"We lost the game at the beginning," Giannini said. "I knew our players would give us a chance in the end, and they proved me right. But it was too little, too late."

The Explorers chipped away at the deficit, drawing to within one point at 28-27 on Pettis' three-pointer with 4 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the first half. But Dayton (13-5, 3-1) answered with a 9-0 run,

The Explorers, who start four guards, struggled to defend athletic, 6-foot-9 forwards Matt Kavanaugh (career-high 23 points) and Luke Fabrizius (season-high 14 points). They entered the game averaging a combined 14 points per game.