La Salle's Jaeden Marshall celebrates during last Wednesday's game against Dayton. Marshall came off the bench to score 25 points to help the Explorers to a 67-64 upset win. (Photo: La Salle Athletics)
By AARON BRACY
January 24, 2026
Big5Hoops.com
La Salle’s 67-64 upset victory over Dayton at Gola Arena happened last Wednesday, but the Explorers sowed the seeds months earlier.
It started last spring when AD Ash Puri smartly tabbed Darris Nichols to replace Fran Dunphy before the 2024-25 season was even over. The early hiring gave Nichols a head start on the chaotic transfer portal. This was key, considering the Explorers ended up replacing their entire roster save for Eric Acker.
In Nichols, Puri found a coach who embraced the challenge faced at La Salle, a program that has reached just one NCAA tournament since 1992 and one in which some have said winning is an impossibility.
Enter Nichols.
“I’m stubborn, so it probably backfired,” Nichols said in a phone interview on Friday. “The more people who said, ‘You can’t win there,’ the more I wanted the job.”
Nichols has brought not just a determined mentality and youthful energy to the program, but he also has brought a unique style to Olney Avenue. This is key for any program and especially one that needs to be different without the ability, at least for now, to land the top-end Atlantic 10 talent.
The Explorers play a deep rotation of double-digit players, emphasize outrebounding teams, and look to get to the free throw line at an above-average rate.
Most importantly to Nichols, he recruits players who have toughness and play with an edge.
It all was on beautiful display against the Flyers, who entered undefeated in the A-10 with an NCAA at-large bid in play.
Throwing multiple players at Dayton, La Salle jumped out to an inconceivable 33-8 lead with 8:52 remaining in the first half. When the intermission hit, the Explorers were in front 40-29. Astoundingly, 31 of the 40 La Salle points came from reserves.
Nichols has imbued his players with a feeling that the starting five isn’t the be-all, end-all. Everyone will play. Everyone is expected to contribute.
“When guys aren’t worried about starting or not starting, then your bench is strong,” he said.
The Flyers, as you would expect, made it close in the second half. Dayton was within 65-64 with 26 seconds left. Then, La Salle’s Jerome Brewer Jr. was fouled and made two clutch free throws with 21 seconds left, forcing Dayton to try a tying three-pointer in the final seconds that was missed. Had Brewer not connected on both, the outcome could have been different.
The thing is, La Salle’s players are used to challenging free throw situations because Nichols simulates them at every practice. Interestingly, every foul in live situations in practice, whether a shooting foul or not, is treated as a one-and-one and never a two-shot foul. Nichols feels doing this will help simulate pressure situations like Brewer faced against Dayton.
“It’s one thing to get free throws up after practice where you’re shooting a hundred consecutive free throws; that’s not what the game is,” Nichols said. “The game is start and stop.”
Making free throws is especially important because of Nichols’ emphasis on getting to the foul line.
“That’s our big thing, getting to the free throw line,” he said. “So, if you get there and don’t make them, ain’t no point in getting there.”
Nichols and the Explorers celebrated the win, sure. They gratefully received well-wishes from friends, colleagues, and fans. But the coach wasn’t proclaiming it as program-altering and, frankly, wasn’t acting out of the ordinary–and he let his players know as much.
“I told our guys, ‘This is the thing: I’m used to winning,’” he said. “All this excitement after a win, yeah it’s cool and all. But, OK, let’s go get another one.”
The Explorers’ next chance will come on Wednesday at Fordham. Then they’ll see the league’s elite, VCU and St. Louis, in the not-to-distant future. You can guarantee that nobody will be taking the Explorers (7-13 overall, 3-4 A-10) lightly after Dayton, not that they were before but definitely not now. And Nichols certainly doesn’t plan on making it easy on anybody.
“I want to be known,” he said. “as the hardest-playing team in the league.”
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Around the Big 5
–Villanova, 15-5 overall, 6-3 Big East: The Wildcats gave host UConn a game on Saturday before struggling down the stretch in a 75-67 OT loss.
Tyler Perkins opened the extra session by hitting a three-pointer 12 seconds into OT, but Villanova didn’t score another field goal. The Wildcats missed their final six shots, two of which came from long range. Duke Brennan’s three free throws accounted for the remainder of their points.
Bryce Lindsay and Acaden Lewis, the Wildcats’ two leading scorers entering play, were a combined 1-for-21 from the field for seven combined points.
Lindsay started off hot but has cooled in the last six games, averaging 7.8 points and shooting 25 percent (14 of 56) from the field, including 21 percent (8 of 38) from three-point range over that stretch.
Lewis, the talented rookie, had his second straight rough outing against stout competition, following his outing against St. John’s at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Jan. 17. In that one, Lewis had three points and was 1 of 7 from the field and 0 of 2 from long range. Against the Huskies, he went 1 for 13 and 0 for 4.
Up next for Villanova: Host Providence on Friday at 7 p.m..
–Temple, 13-7 overall, 5-2 American: The Owls completed a season sweep of UTSA with Saturday’s 70-64 win in Texas. Temple fell behind by 10 points in the first half before opening the second stanza with a 17-3 run.
Derrian Ford had 21 points and eight rebounds to pace the Owls, who got 18 points from Jordan Mason and 15 from Aiden Tobiason.
Up next for Temple: Host Charlotte on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
–Saint Joseph’s (12-8 overall, 4-3 Atlantic 10): The Hawks completed a Philadelphia sweep of Dayton with Saturday’s 81-74 win over the Flyers at Hagan Arena. The Hawks took control with a tiebreaking 9-2 run to start the second half, ultimately going in front by as many as 17 after halftime.
Derek Simpson continued his strong play of late, with 20 points and nine assists. Jaiden Glover-Toscano added 20 points and seven rebounds, and Desear Haskins also scored 20.
Up next for Saint Joseph’s: At Loyola-Chicago on Tuesday at 9 p.m.
–Penn, 9-9 overall, 2-3 Ivy League: Penn was no match for Ivy front-runner Yale, losing 77-60 at home on Saturday. AJ Levine had 17 points and seven assists for the Quakers, who got 12 each from TJ Power and Ethan Roberts.
Up next for Penn: At Columbia on Friday at 7 p.m.
–Drexel, 10-11 overall, 4-4 Coastal Athletic Association: The Dragons celebrated coach Bill Herrion and Malik Rose’s induction into the Drexel Athletics Hall of Fame with an 83-78 win at the DAC. Josh Reed powered the Dragons with 22 points in 19 minutes off the bench.
Shane Blakeney (14 points), Garfield Turner (12), and Kevon Vanderhorst (12) also reached double-figures.
Up next for Drexel: Host Hampton on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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Aaron Bracy has covered sports in Philadelphia for nearly three decades for various publications and as a freelancer for the Associated Press. His first book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Brookline), can be ordered HERE. He is working on his second book, which will chronicle the memorable 2000–01 season of Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be published in April 2027. Follow Bracy on social media HERE. Contact him at bracymedia@gmail.com.