La Salle bests Binghamton, 65-62, in the first meeting between the two since 2011

In the first meeting since 2011, La Salle earned a 65-62 win over Binghamton on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena, courtesy of clutch shooting down the stretch from its guards.

“Overall, happy with the win, but we need to grow and get better as a team,” head coach Fran Dunphy said.

The Explorers (3-3) shared the wealth, featuring three players in double figures. Josh Nickelberry led the team with 17 points followed by Khalil Brantley with 15 points. Hassan Drame added 13.

Binghamton was led by Jacob Falko’s game-high 20 points. Tariq Balogun added 16, and Christian Hinckson added 11.

Zone defense forced La Salle to resort to perimeter shooting, limiting them inside the paint where they’re usually strongest. However, the Explorers made it work, shooting 30.8% from deep.

“We need to get it inside more than we do,” Dunphy said. “We need to start working way more inside and then out. If we get the defense collapsed, we can then maybe get some jump shots off of that or attack the closeouts that maybe we can take advantage of.”

Binghamton had 21 turnovers, and La Salle took full advantage, scoring 17 points off Bearcats miscues. La Salle totaled 10 turnovers and led by nine at the half, 36-27.

“We definitely had to make an adjustment to that 2-3 zone,” Nickelberry said. “But once we figured it out, they had to get out of it and we just played in transition.”

In the second half, early fouls brought the Bearcats to within six points of the Explorers just four minutes into the second half. But Binghamton’s energy to come back also arrived with a wealth of brought personal fouls — five within four minutes — which La Salle capitalized on. In all, the Explorers drained 61.1% of its free throws, particularly down the stretch.

“I thought we played well in stretches and didn’t do so well in others,” Dunphy said. “We’re not shooting it great at this point. I think we’re getting decent shots. We need to shoot it better. We need to pay attention to details better on the defensive end.”

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Both teams had foul trouble in the second half — and, at one point, it cost La Salle the lead. With less than seven minutes to play, the Bearcats crawled back and took the lead, 53-51.

“Talking ad nauseum about trying to keep Falko off his right side, and we didn’t do that nearly enough,” Dunphy said. “I thought he made some really good plays. He’s a good player.”

A back-and-forth battle ensued as the lead changed hands four times, but a Drame jumper with just over a minute left made it 62-61 and gave the Explorers the lead for good.

“Stay connected,” Nickelberry said when asked what Dunphy’s direction was in the end-game huddles. “Focus in on all the small details.”

Fouls continued and were in the Explorers’ favor. With 10.1 seconds left, Binghamton’s inbound and drive to the basket was unsuccessful, securing La Salle’s victory.

“Great win,” Nickelberry said. “Props to the opposing team. They have a great team. They fought hard, but I’m glad we pulled a win. We had some big plays toward the end of the game. ... No matter how we played in the first half, those plays at the end really helped us win, for sure.”

Dunphy makes a return to the Palestra with the Explorers to face off against Temple in the first of two Big 5 men’s doubleheaders on Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPN+).