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PHILADELPHIA — Khalil Brantley was about as calm in sharing the contents of the La Salle locker room bulletin board as he was in watching his game-winning overtime buzzer beater bank home Saturday.
The season inspiration is a printout of the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, which has La Salle picked 15th in the conference. It’s a macrocosmic doubt akin to what Brantley faced on the small scale, getting an inbounds pass with four seconds left in overtime and the Explorers down two to Penn after Clark Slajchert’s runner.
At the Wells Fargo Center, Brantley confidently strode to the logo and fired a 38-footer to give La Salle the 93-92 win in the Big 5 Classic, knowing once the shot left his hands that it was true.
With the same confidence, Brantley and the Explorers believe they’ll prove league doubters wrong.
“We know the preseason rankings, they’ve got us at the bottom of the A-10,” said Brantley, a junior guard from Brooklyn. “As a team, we’ve got that on our bulletin board in our locker room. I don’t know why, maybe because a couple of people transferred, they always have us at the bottom because I guess La Salle isn’t … we’re trying to get the culture back to winning.”
The A-10 voters were not without reason. La Salle went 15-19 last year, including 7-11 to finish 11th in the conference. Second-leading scorer Josh Nickelberry departed for Florida State, and the Drame twins left for Duquesne, their third stop in four years.
But La Salle has started the year 6-2, the losses to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium and to Temple in a triple-overtime attrition battle.
Saturday’s victory over Penn is an indication that the Explorers are on the right track.
“There was a stretch there in the second half where I said to myself – because no one else would listen anyway – I’m not sure how this game is going to end, but I feel good,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “I think our team is arriving. … It’s a really good win for us.”
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St. Joe’s win over Villanova was the headliner last Wednesday. But it wasn’t even the best game of the night.
That honor, of course, went to Temple’s 106-99 win over La Salle. A few notes:
• It was just the fifth triple-overtime game in Big 5 history and first since 1980, when La Salle beat Villanova. It was the first multi-overtime game since 2017.
• The 205 total points made it the second highest scoring game in Big 5 history, trailing a 111-105 win for La Salle over Villanova in three overtimes … back in 1953.
• Jhamir Brickus scored 41 points, setting the Big 5 single-game record. It passes fellow Explorer Steve Black, who scored 40 against Temple in 1983.
• Ten players fouled out, with the teams combining for 68 total infractions.
• • •
Villanova’s women had the leading scorer in the nation last year in Maddy Siegrist, averaging 29.2 points per game. Her heir apparent, Lucy Olsen, isn’t far behind.
Olsen ranks third in women’s basketball in scoring at 26.0 ppg. She trails Iowa’s incomparable Caitlin Clark, averaging 29.0 ppg, and USC freshman sensation JuJu Watkins at 27.3.
Olsen, a junior guard from Spring-Ford, averaged 12.4 ppg last year as the second option to Siegrist in the Wildcats’ tournament run.
Teammate Christina Dalce is tied for 11th in the nation with her average of 11.4 rebounds per game.
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The basketball season is off to a stellar start at Widener. Both the men’s and women’s teams entered December with 7-1 records.
The only loss for the Pride men came Nov. 17 against Hampden-Sydney, ranked No. 8 at the time. Widener then bested perennial NCAA qualifier Wooster on its home court.
Dominic Dunn leads the Pride at 14.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. The Pride are immensely balanced, with seven players averaging seven or more points.
The Pride will get a test this Saturday when they visit No. 15 Swarthmore.
The Widener women won their first seven before dropping a 66-58 decision at home to Arcadia. Widener is led by Springfield All-Delco Jordan D’Ambrosio, who is averaging 15.5 points per game. She’s formed a potent 1-2 punch with Mia Robbins, at 14.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
• • •
Before the Big 5 Classic, Drexel hadn’t played Villanova in 14 years (to the day). It had one win in 19 meetings with the Main Line foe, the only victory coming in 2006.
That made the 57-55 win even more special for the Dragons, as was the fact that it was Drexel’s first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 20 Louisville in 2010. Drexel’s victory helped knock Villanova, then ranked 18th, out of the top 25.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising: Drexel’s 62 wins since the start of the 2019-20 season trails only Villanova’s 99 among the City 6.
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NOTES >> From 1996 to 2023, Penn played two games at the Wells Fargo Center, both against Villanova, in 2001 and 2003. It will play two games there in eight days, first the Big 5 Classic and then Saturday’s meeting with No. 16 Kentucky at noon. … Neumann’s men’s team is off to a slow start at 2-5. But Jalen Vaughns is scoring at a feverish pace, averaging 26.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 54.3 percent from the field. He’s topped 20 points in each outing. … Maggie Doogan, the two-time Daily Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year from Cardinal O’Hara, was named the Player of the Week in the Atlantic 10 last week. She averaged 20.7 points per game in leading Richmond to three wins at the Vibrant Thanksgiving Classic. … If you’re looking for statistical oddities, try this one: Penn State Brandywine’s men trailed 32-16 to PSU-Scranton last week … and won. The Delco Lions outscored Scranton, 46-26, after the break for a 62-58 win. PSUB shot 28.9 percent from the field, 48 percent from the line, 15.8 percent from 3-point range – yet still won, thanks to 25 offensive rebounds, 28 points in the paint, 17 second-chance points and 31 points off 22 Scranton turnovers.
Contact Matthew De George at mdegeorge@delcotimes.com.
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