Oh, what a night!

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Editor
February 20, 2008

The Explorers walked into the Palestra Monday night with the weight of seven years’ worth of frustration and disappointment on their backs. La Salle had not beaten St. Joseph’s since March 3, 2001, a span that covered the series’ previous eight match-ups.

Mike Dao - The St. Joseph's student section looks on in horror as Darnell Harris puts up a three-pointer.

But by the end of the night, those defeats had been avenged and the Hawk had been killed.

In what will surely go down as a Big Five classic, La Salle out-dueled St. Joe’s 90-89 in a high-octane battle that sent 20th & Olney into euphoria and Hawk Hill into a state of disbelief.

“Obviously, we're extremely pleased with a win against a team that I feel is an outstanding veteran team with many strengths,” La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini said.

“One of the things that made me want to be the coach at La Salle are these kinds of games and these kinds of rivalries in this kind of atmosphere.”

Neither team was able to distance itself from the opponent down the stretch, and as a result, the game’s outcome came down to making big plays. Despite a few slip-ups, the Explorers were able to get a few huge plays out of their sophomores.

The first of these plays came with just over a minute remaining and the score tied at 86. Sophomore Yves Mekongo Mbala put up a shot, which missed. Sophomore Rodney Green skied for the rebound and slammed home the put-back.

With 45.1 seconds left and La Salle up 88-87, Giannini used a timeout and drew up an isolation play for sophomore Kimmani Barrett. The play worked to perfection, as Barrett sliced to the basket and laid it up to give the Explorers a three-point lead.

After a Tasheed Carr basket cut the lead to one with 10.5 seconds left, senior Darnell Harris (who scored a team-high 21 points) was fouled on the ensuing in-bound pass. They walked the floor, and Harris missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Hawks took the ball down the court, trailing by only one, and Carr dashed into the lane. Green stepped up and made the biggest strip and steal of the season. He secured the ball and called a timeout with 1.4 seconds left.

On a normal night, this would probably have been the end. But in a wild Big Five affair such as this, there was still work to do. Green was fouled off the in-bound pass, and he went to the line to shoot two. The first shot missed, and then things got really strange.

As Green started his shooting motion, he abruptly stopped and looked to his left. He had apparently heard a whistle, but it had not come from the officials. A lane violation was called on Green for faking the shot, and now St. Joe’s had one final chance with one second left.

A baseball pass that went the length of the court found its way into Carr’s hands, but his shot was both off the mark and after the buzzer. The horn sounded, and the Explorer faithful burst onto the court in jubilation. As the La Salle students celebrated the emotional win at center court, the St. Joe’s crowd just stood motionless, watching in stunned silence.

“Even though our focus may not have been as good as I wanted it to be, our effort, our determination, and our grittiness in doing what was necessary down the stretch was everything we needed,” Giannini said.

The game had a feverish pace all the way through, as both teams were hot offensively and unimpressive defensively.

The Hawks shot a remarkable 63 percent from the floor and outscored the Explorers 44-28 in the paint, but there were a few categories that swung the balance in La Salle’s favor.

The Explorers drained 16 three-pointers on the evening, shooting 55 percent from downtown. In addition, La Salle outrebounded St. Joe’s 32-21 (including 14-4 in the offensive column) and scored 19 points in the paint to the Hawks’ two. La Salle’s bench produced 28 points, while St. Joe’s only had one bench point.

“All credit to La Salle,” St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli said. “They played with great emotion. We weren’t sharp in our execution at the very end.”

Monday was a big night for Darnell Harris in particular. With five three-pointers, Harris broke the La Salle career three-point record, which had been held by Donnie Carr. More importantly, though, he and fellow senior Sherman Diaz were finally able to beat St. Joe’s.

“It means the world [to me],” Harris said. “This is a game that I’ve been wanting since I got to La Salle. It’s one of the reasons why I came to play in the Big Five. I’m just happy for the team; I’m happy for the program. This is great, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

La Salle sophomore Ruben Guillandeaux scored 16 points in 15 minutes in his return to the court after multiple injuries.

For St. Joe’s, Pat Calathes scored 26 points, but only six of them came in the second half. Darrin Govens also scored 26 points.

With the win, the Explorers improved to 11-13 overall, 5-5 in the A-10 and 2-1 in the Big Five. The Hawks fell to 16-8, 7-4 and 2-1. La Salle will be back in action Thursday night at 7 p.m. for a showdown with the Dayton Flyers at the Tom Gola Arena.

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu