Final Score
La Salle (2-0) – 73
Monmouth (1-1) – 60
 
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A late second half run powered La Salle University to a 73-60 win over the Monmouth University men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
 
The first half of the game was a back-and-forth affair, that featured all three ties in the game.
 
La Salle led 9-5 before a 5-2 run pulled the Hawks to within one, 11-10 with 14:27 to go in the first. Stefanos Spartalis scored all five points during that stretch. 
 
A three-pointer from Andrew Ball at 12:16 gave the Hawks a 17-16 edge. 
 
Jason Rivera-Torres scored seven of the next nine points and pushed the Monmouth advantage to 22-18 with 10:56 to go in the half. 
 
La Salle responded with a 12-2 run and took a 30-24 lead with 6:07 showing on the clock. 
 
Monmouth scored seven of the final nine points in the half and cut the La Salle lead to 38-35 at the break. Ball had four points in that stretch. 
 
The start of the second half went much the same way as the first did with the two teams battling back-and-forth over the first 10 minutes.
 
A pair of free throws from Spartalis at 6:40 pulled the Hawks to within one, 51-50.
 
La Salle responded with a 7-0 run and pushed its lead to 58-50 with 4:32 to go in game. 
 
The two teams continued to battle down the stretch as a field goal from Ball in the final 25 seconds made the final scorer 73-60.
 
Quotes
"You gotta give them credit, their kids finished the game. We struggled down the stretch, but it was a good college basketball game. Things got away from us in the last five minutes of the game. Good job by them. I'm really proud of our guys, we played today. A couple of plays go a different way, and this game goes a different way."
            – Head Coach King Rice
 
Notes
- The Explorers used a 7-0 run to break open a one-point game late in the second half.
- Jason Rivera-Torres led the Hawks with 20 points. He is the first Hawk to score 20 points since Abdi Bashir Jr. had 24 against Charleston last year in the CAA Tournament. 
- Andrew Ball finished with a season-high 15 points against the Explorers, it was one shy of his career-high.
- Ball led the Hawks with a career-high four blocks in the contest. 
- Monmouth finished with 11 blocks, three players had three or more blocks in the contest (Andrew Ball, Jason Rivera-Torres, Dok Muordar).
- Ball led the Hawks with nine rebounds for the second straight game.
- Jack Collins led the Hawks with six assists in the contest. He now has 13 assists in two games for the Hawks. 
 
Numbers Crunch
- Monmouth shot 42.3% from the floor while La Salle shot 37.1%.
- La Salle finished with a 43-35 edge in the rebounding battle.
- The two sides combined for 56 points in the paint, the Explorers had a 30-26 edge.
- Monmouth had a 25-17 advantage in bench points.
- There were three ties and three lead changes.
 
Up Next
Monmouth remains on the road to visit Seton Hall on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.