La Salle dominates Rhode Island in the first round of A-10 men’s basketball tournament

The Explorers snapped their five-game regular season-ending skid and moved on to a second-round date against No. 6 seed Duquesne on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. USA Network)

Jhamir Brickus (left) of La Salle scores as Rhode Island's Rory Stewart (center) and Jeremy Foumena defend during the Atlantic 10 tournament on Tuesday at the Barclays Center. Brickus finished with a team-high 18 points.Read moreCharles Fox / Staff Photographer

by Lochlahn March

Published Mar. 7, 2023, 7:12 p.m. ET

NEW YORK — La Salle took an early lead against Rhode Island and cruised to a 73-56 victory in the first round of the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball championship.

The No. 11-seed Explorers snapped a five-game losing skid and will face No. 6 Duquesne, which earned a first-round bye, on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., USA Network).

La Salle fell, 91-74, at home on Feb. 22 in its only matchup with Duquesne during the regular season.

What we saw

The Explorers dominated the boards, outrebounding the No. 14 Rams, 51-32. La Salle’s 13 offensive rebounds led to 16 second-chance points.

Junior guard Jhamir Brickus led the Explorers, pouring in 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Sophomore guard Daeshon Shepherd had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Hassan Drame added 11 boards.

La Salle capitalized on the Rams’ struggles from deep to take a 15-point lead at halftime and stayed in front for the rest of the game. Rhode Island went just 1-for-9 from deep in the first half, while the Explorers were 4-for-8.

La Salle junior guard Anwar Gill returned to the floor for the first time since Feb. 22 and delivered 10 points and eight rebounds. The Explorers lost three straight games while he was sidelined with an injury.

Scouting Duquesne

Duquesne’s leading scorer is junior guard Dae Dae Grant, who is averaging 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds. Grant is second in the A-10 in three-pointers made per game (2.7). La Salle ranks last in the conference in opponent three-point percentage (35.3%). The Dukes average nine three-point buckets, most in the conference.

Jimmy Clark III averages 11.7 points and four rebounds and was named to the A-10′s all-defensive team. Clark III has seven games this season where he’s notched four or more steals.

Regular-season matchup

Poor second-half shooting doomed the Explorers against Duquesne. While the Explorers shot 46.2% from the field, including 60% from three in the first half, those figures fell to 35.71% and 23.0%, respectively, in the second.

La Salle’s Josh Nickelberry tied his career-high with 28 points and went 6-for-11 from long range..

Duquesne had five different players score in the double-figures. Senior forward Joe Reece led the way with 26 points, his season high.

Looking ahead

No. 3 Fordham clinched a bye to the quarterfinals and awaits the winner of the La Salle-Duquesne matchup. The A-10 quarterfinals will be Thursday (7:30 p.m., USA Network).