Philadelphia, PA—The La Salle University men’s basketball team led by as many as eight in the second half, but faltered down the stretch and fell to the Richmond Spiders, 78-71, in a conference battle at Tom Gola Arena.

The Explorers (5-12) actually led, 71-70, after center Mike St. John (Northboro, MA/River School) converted a tip-in and was fouled with just 1:36 to play.

But the Spiders (8-9) Kevin Steenberge struck back with an acrobatic tip of his own and Richmond went on to score the game’s final eight points.  This was the first time all season that the Explorers lost when leading with five minutes to play. 

La Salle placed four players in double-figures, led by junior Steven Smith (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast) who compiled a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds.  He was followed by Jermaine Thomas (Frederick, MD/Thomas Johnson), who had 16 markers, including four three-pointers.

The freshman duo of Darnell Harris (Baltimore, MD/St. Francis) and Tabby Cunningham (Philadelphia, PA/St. John Neuman) added 13 and 11 points, respectively.   

Jermaine Bucknor led the Spiders with 18 points. 

Richmond jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when Kevin Steenberge intercepted a Cunningham pass and went coast-to-coast for an uncontested slam.  But La Salle’s Steven Smith answered with a slam of his own – plus the foul – and the Explorers were back in the game. 

La Salle shot a blazing 14-15 (92%) from the foul line in the opening half, while Richmond had only one attempt (1/1).   

Richmond led, 40-39, after an exciting first half of play.