Harris' heroics lift Explorers

By Mike McDonald
Collegian Editor
December 6, 2006

A heroic moment from Darnell Harris helped the Explorers end an otherwise disappointing Hawkeye Challenge on a very good note.

The four-team format slated the Explorers against Coppin State in the opening round, and a win in this first-round game would most likely have gotten La Salle a chance to try their luck against the Big Ten host team, Iowa.

But the Explorers failed to take care of business against Coppin State and missed out on a tournament championship game matchup with the Hawkeyes. Instead, La Salle faced Texas-Pan American, and the game ended in a memorable win for the Explorers.

On Friday night, La Salle squared off against Coppin State in the first round.

The Explorers led most of the way, but the lead was never a comfortable one, and Coppin State was able to hang around all game long. The Explorers led by three at the halfway mark (37-34), but Coppin State got hot in the second half and pulled ahead.

There were a few lead changes after that, but it all came down to the end. Darryl Roberts hit a three for Coppin State with 19 seconds remaining to give them a 69-67 lead.

On the Explorers’ ensuing possession, freshman Rodney Green was fouled with four seconds left. Green hit the first free throw, but missed the second. Senior Mike St. John grabbed the offensive rebound for La Salle, but his reverse layup missed and time expired. The Explorers lost, 69-68.

Numbers rarely tell the whole story, but there were a few statistics that really showed the difference.

Saturday brought the Explorers a second-round matchup with Texas-Pan American.

A close game all the way through, it came down to the last second.

With the Explorers trailing by two, UTPA’s Brian Burrell missed on the front end of a one-and-one, and freshman Yves Mekongo-Mbala grabbed the rebound.

Mekongo-Mbala got the ball to freshman Rodney Green, who took the ball into the lane and passed it to Darnell Harris, who pulled up from three at the buzzer. The shot was good, and Harris was the hero for La Salle.

The shot was crucial in two ways for the Explorers. Obviously, it won them the game. But the shot also helped the team salvage the trip to Iowa, which had started out badly the night before.

Harris finished the game with 15 points, none bigger than those final three. He shot 3-for-6 on the night.

Green had 16 points in the game, and he kept on rolling with the stellar start he has gotten off to this season. His second-half performance played a big part in the Explorers’ keeping up with Texas-Pan American.

Mekongo-Mbala had a good game as well, as he scored 13 points and dished out nine assists on the day.

With the win, the Explorers improved to 4-1 on the season. Texas-Pan American dropped to 5-2 on the year.

There was some other good news that came out of the tournament. Darnell Harris’ performance in the two-day event was good enough to receive All-Tournament honors.

The La Salle men will play next on Thursday night, when the Explorers host the University of Maryland - Baltimore County at 7 p.m.

mcdonaldm2@lasalle.edu