By AARON BRACY
November 30, 2024
Long before tipoff, longtime La Salle radio voice Kale Beers greeted one beaming Explorers alum after another.
Those smiles only got bigger a few hours later when the Explorers punched their ticket into Saturday’s Big 5 Classic championship game against Saint Joseph’s with a convincing 83-75 win over Temple at Glaser Arena on Saturday evening. The Owls will meet Villanova in the third-place game at 4:30 p.m., which follows Drexel vs. Penn in the fifth-place contest at 2 o’clock.
In arguably their biggest game since the heady 2013 run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, the Explorers gave a fanbase that has experienced much disappointment over the last three decades so much to be happy about.
The new arena surely had alums and fans elated before tip. They cheered when former coach Dr. John Giannini was honored in a pregame ceremony, complete with video tribute on Glaser’s new, state-of-the-art video board above center court, for his soon-to-be induction into the Big 5 Hall of Fame. There were pictures and hugs, some likely with longtime coach Speedy Morris, who watched from under the home basket.
Fans looked at trophies and images in the upgraded display case in the lobby, waited in long lines for a reasonable $8 La Salle beer, shook hands with old friends and former classmates, and likely felt pride in where the school is headed as they sidled into the blue chairbacks that are so much nicer and more comfortable than the old place.
And then things got even better, keeping those smiles on their faces through forty minutes of basketball, down the crowded exits, and still smiling as they exited onto Olney Avenue, probably excitedly continuing the conversation about what they had just witnessed on their ride home.
And there was no doubt about this one.
“Look, they kicked our butt from start to finish,” Temple coach Adam Fisher said afterward.
It’s hard to argue with that assessment after a dominating performance on the offensive glass, where La Salle had a 13-4 advantage in the first half and finished 17-10 in the Explorers’ favor. La Salle also harassed Temple into 16 turnovers, 12 of which came off of steals.
They were hungrier, more intense, and just seemed to want the win a little bit more.
“Hey, I really want to be dogs,” La Salle’s Corey McKeithan said of his preseason message to his teammates.
That played out on the court. And McKeithan was the leader of it, continuing his rise to a dominant player at La Salle after, for lack of a better way of saying it, just a guy at Rider.
“Everything,” Fisher said when I asked what McKeithan did well. “He got whatever he wanted tonight.”
The fifth-year guard ended with a career-high 28 points, shooting 10 of 19 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range, that will have everyone talking. But it was his floor generalship, particularly late in the game when the Explorers were trying to hang on to a double-digit lead, that was as impressive if maybe more overlooked.
Of course, the Explorers needed offense to score, something that probably impressed former 76ers general manager Billy King, who was seated just rows from the court across from La Salle’s bench, but it was their work on the glass and on defense that tipped the scales in the Explorers’ favor.
Jahlil White, the Temple transfer finally feeling fully healthy, overcame some early foul trouble in the second half to finish with 12 rebounds to go with 11 points. Demetrius Lilley came out like he wanted to grab every board, getting five early to set the tone.
La Salle also got eye-opening defensive performances from Daeshon Shepherd and rookie Deuce Jones, who traded turns guarding Temple’s Jamal Mashburn Jr. All Mashburn had done since coming to Temple from New Mexico is score at least 20 points all six games this season, averaging 23.3 points per contest. But Mashburn got little breathing room against the Shepherd/Jones tandem, finishing with 15 points while missing 13 of 19 shots and all three of his three-point attempts.
To see the veteran Shepherd’s performance was impressive but not totally surprising, considering his experience and elite athleticism. But to see Jones attack the assignment and excel at it was eye-opening in spite of how good he has looked so far in the Blue and Gold.
“If he did it today, you can imagine what he’s like in practice,” La Salle coach Fran Dunphy said. “He can be a pain in the butt, and that’s what we needed him to be.”
The Explorers can’t sit on this performance, as good as it was. They’ll need to be as good and likely better on Saturday night to defeat defending champion Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks were picked third in the Atlantic 10’s preseason poll while fellow league member La Salle was placed 15th of 15 teams. Those predictions don’t mean much, though, especially after watching La Salle playing early on.
The point is, though, that everyone believed before the season that the Hawks would be good. And Saint Joseph’s has done enough, with wins over Texas Tech and Villanova, particularly, to back that up thus far. Dunphy and the Explorers know it won’t be easy.
“I expect a great battle,” McKeithan said. “It’s going to be a battle.”
Said Dunphy, “It’s great for Philadelphia, It’s great for our league. We’re really looking forward to the challenge. But they’re really good.”
And so was La Salle on Saturday.
You didn’t need to ask Explorers fans, either. The looks on their faces told you all you needed to know.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.