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The La Salle Explorers, who were wondering just a week ago if they would even receive an at-large bid after a loss to Butler, celebrate their win over the Kansas State Wildcats.
Duke may have controlled the national stage with its 73-61 Round of 64 win over feisty Albany at the Wells Fargo Arena Friday, but this college basketball town, which was built on the folklore of the Big Five, became reacquainted with one of the city’s proudest traditions.
La Salle, which had not been to an NCAA Tournament in 21 years and has struggled to become relevant in Philadelphia, let alone all of college basketball, pulled off a huge shocker when it upset Big 12 regular season co-champion and fourth-seeded Kansas State, 63-61, in Kansas City, just two hours away from the Wildcats’ Manhattan, Kan., campus.
The 13th-seeded Explorers (23-9), who were wondering just a week ago if they would even receive an at-large bid after a loss to Butler in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Barclays Center, are suddenly one of the darlings of the tournament.
“We want to make a run,†guard Ramon Galloway said. “We want to show we can absolutely play with anybody in the country.â€
The last time the Explorers went to the tournament in 1990, they were coached by Speedy Morris, who maxed out the talents of Lionel Simmons, a 6-7 forward from South Philadelphia. Simmons scored more than 3,000 points in his career and was the third player in school history to be selected national Player of the Year. The other two were three time All-American Tom Gola, a 6-8 precursor to Magic Johnson who led the Explorers to the 1954 NCAA championship, and Olympic forward Michael Brooks in 1980.
This team may not have a marquee player, but it has the ability to put out a four-guard lineup of Tyreek Duren, Ty Garland, Sam Mills and Ramon Galloway, all of whom can all make threes or beat their man off the dribble.
“The guards clearly are the strength of this team,†said La Salle coach John Giannini. “I think we have a group of guards I would not trade for anyone.â€
The Explorers are enjoying a renaissance worthy of a Philadelphia art museum.
The unexpected hero of the biggest postseason win La Salle has had in 23 years (when it beat Southern Miss in a first-round game) was lightly recruited 6-8 sophomore forward Jerrell Wright from Dobbins Tech in North Philadelphia.
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Wright came out of the background to score 21 points, grab eight rebounds, block two shots and make all six of his field-goal tries and nine of 10 free throws. He carried the Explorers, who are playing without injured center Steve Zack, to the Round of 32 Sunday against Marshal Henderson and Ole Miss.
Wright made three of those free throws in the final 30 seconds, including one with 9.6 seconds to play that put the Explorers ahead, 63-61. K-State raced down the floor, but point guard Angel Rodriguez got hung up in the corner and his off-balance shot over the corner of the backboard missed everything at the final buzzer as the Explorers leaped off their bench to celebrate.
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