Philadelphia, PA—The La Salle University men’s basketball team made a spirited charge in the final minutes of play, but lost to the Temple Owls, 73-67, in the Atlantic 10 regular season finale at the Liacouras Center.     

With under seven minutes to play, it appeared as if the game might lapse into a blowout with Temple leading, 56-45.  But the Explorers responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 56-55 with 3:27 to play.  The Explorers were never able to capture the lead, and they would get no closer. 

Steven Smith (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast) and Jermaine Thomas (Frederick, MD/Thomas Johnson) scored 20 points apiece in the losing effort. 

Mardy Collins led Temple with 28 points, including 5-11 from three-point range.

The Explorers started off on fire, connecting on five of their first six three pointers to take a 15-10 lead.  But as quickly as the offense came it went away, and Temple responded with a 16-3 run.  The Owls led, 37-24, at halftime. 

For La Salle, it’s on the Atlantic 10 tournament, where they will be the #6 seed and play the #3 seed, UMass, on Wednesday, March 8^th at 2:00 P.M. in Cincinnati.