La Salle breezes past Siena

ALBANY, N.Y. - It may not be an easy bus ride through the snow back home, but it will be a happy ride for Dr. John Giannini and the La Salle basketball team.

That's because the Explorers (9-2) led wire-to-wire and got a 22-point in 28-minute performance from Ramon Galloway in routing host Siena 80-52 Saturday night.

"I thought that was our best game of the year," Giannini said. "The reason I say that is we were very good defensively and offensively. The numbers show that. It was just one of those nights where we started making threes and our effort was at a high level."

Galloway hit a three-point basket just 1 minute and 17 seconds into the game and the Explorers never trailed. Galloway was one of three La Salle players to score in double figures. Tyreek Duren had 13 and D.J. Peterson came off the bench to score 11.

Siena kept the game close through much of the first half, cutting La Salle's lead to 14-13 on a pull-up jumper by Roman Catholic graduate Rakeem Brookins with 8:41 left. That was as close as Siena got, as the Explorers used a 10-2 run to take a double-figure lead.

The Explorers made only five baskets in the first 11 minutes of the first half, but Siena was unable to take advantage.

"We never really put a lot of emphasis on offense. We always preach defense," said Galloway. "Even if the offense falls off, you can create offense from your defense."

La Salle took a 39-24 lead into the locker room. If the Saints and the announced crowd of 5,907 were looking for some kind of second-half comeback, the Explorers eliminated that thought with a 19-2 run, turning a 14-point advantage into a 31-point lead.

O.D. Anosike had 14 points and 16 boards for Siena, losers of nine straight.