Toughest stretch over, winnable games await

La Salle just lost their 4th straight game and 6th out of their last 7 games in another heartbreaker, this time to Florida State 81-76. While the little things continue to deny Explorers victories, there is no doubt the team has played better in recent weeks and the upcoming schedule could finally yield some much-needed victories.

Yes the story remains the same La Salle plays a good team tough only to falter somewhere down the stretch and victory is denied. One can’t dispute their play still leaves an empty feeling to fans craving success. Once again Darnell Harris gets limited shots in the second half. The team misses critical free throws, and the turnover rears its ugly head at the most critical time again. Not to mention blowing a 9 point second half lead. All of these issues have come up time and time again and most certainly were factors in the loss to the Seminoles who connected on an unbelievable 30 of 32 free throws to seal the win. Last season opponents made the highest percentage of their free throws over their average against La Salle than any Division I program. It appears lady luck just doesn’t like La Salle. Despite 16 points from Rodney Green and 14 rebounds from freshman forward Jerrell Williams the Explorers fall to 4-8 with the loss but now turn their attention to a favorable Atlantic 10 schedule and easier non-conference foes over the next seven games.

La Salle will open its Atlantic 10 slate against Richmond this Wednesday in their annual afternoon game scheduled during mid-semester break. The Spiders are coming off a 52-49 win over Virginia Tech but are certainly not the formidable opponent the Explorers have faced during the current losing streak. After the Spiders La Salle will travel to St. Bonaventure and face a struggling Penn team before facing Richmond again at the Robbins center. The Explorers will close out the seven game stretch with three consecutive home games against Charlotte, St. Louis, and St. Bonaventure. Now is the time for La Salle to make up some ground. Anything short of a winning record during the next seven games could be devastating to the program. If La Salle truly is playing better basketball they need to close out games against the teams upcoming on their schedule.

The Explorers need more contributions from Darnell Harris, especially in the second half. He needs to become more active late in basketball games. They need more consistent production from Yves Mekongo-Mbala, Paul Johnson, Rodney Green and Ruben Guillandeaux. They also need Jerrell Williams to continue to grow into the player that many had hoped he could be at La Salle. Sometimes very effective and sometimes frustrating he remains a freshman who has a world of potential to help this program get back to a more successful era. It also needs a consistent Kyle Griffin providing a spark off the bench and it needs to find someone willing to lead this team into the next phase of the program’s development. Without these things the Explorers will continue to frustrate fans and themselves with spurts of fine play but few wins to show for it. Can they put into practice the improvement they have shown against better competition in these next seven days? Time will tell but it falls squarely on the coaching staff and players to right the ship now because the opportunity awaits them. All they have to do is go out and make it happen. There may be no better time than these next seven games.