March 3, 2009
La Salle Explorers vs. Fordham Rams
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Tom Gola Arena
Game: Conference
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Wednesday evening’s matchup between the La Salle Explorers and the Fordham Rams will commence with the traditional Senior Night ceremony. Prior to tip-off, seniors Paul Johnson and Brad Cohen will be honored for their four years of service to the men’s basketball program. The seniors will be recognized by administration, staff, teammates, coaches and fans.
La Salle Explorers: 16-12 (7-7, 8th Place) Big 5: 3-1
Conference: Atlantic 10
For one final time this season, the La Salle Explorers will take their home floor of Tom Gola Arena to close out the 2008-09 home schedule. On Wednesday evening, the Explorers will look to extend their current two-game winning streak when they take on the Fordham Rams for the 42nd time in school history. The Explorers have compiled 29 wins in the all-time series, while winning five of the last eight meetings. Last season’s 83-78 road win over the Rams, clinched the Explorers’ season-best five-game winning streak. In that win, the Explorers saw four players reach double figures, with then-sophomore Rodney Green leading the way with 19 points. Coming off a 97-88 home victory over the UMass Minutemen on Sunday, the Explorers shot nearly 53 percent for the game, while hitting a season-best 10 three-point field goals. In the Explorers’ recent two-game winning streak, they have combined for a total of 19 three-pointers. Standing out in this category is sophomore Darryl Partin who has converted a team-best six three-point field goal attempts in the last two games. On Sunday, Partin and Green had a career day as they both notched a career-high 30 points. Junior Vernon Goodridge also contributed in a big way with a game-high 11 rebounds and 10 points, earning him a double-double. With La Salle gaining a sharp touch on the basketball at the right time of the season, the Explorers will look to make it three wins in a row as they host the Fordham Rams on Wednesday.
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Fordham Rams: 3-23 (1-13, 14th Place)
Conference: Atlantic 10
Heading into Philadelphia to face the La Salle Explorers for their final road game of the season, the Fordham Rams will try to snap their current eight-game losing streak. The Rams are in the midst of closing out the 2008-09 campaign against two Philadelphia-based schools in the final week of the season. With winning three of the last four games in the all-time series against the Explorers, the Rams will be looking to use this momentum to halt their recent losing skid. The Rams have just one conference win on the season, that being against St. Bonaventure in the second game of a home-and-home series. In Fordham’s recent 73-55 road loss to the Charlotte 49ers, sophomore Mike Moore scored 20 points for the fifth time in the last six games. After going 14 consecutive games with double-digit scoring performances, freshman Jio Fontan had his streak snapped in the loss. The freshman guard comes into Wednesday night’s game against the Explorers with the fourth-highest point total scored as a freshman in school history. Fontan is just three points shy of Marcus Stout, who currently sits in third place on Fordham’s all-time list. Though the team has already been eliminated from postseason tournament contention, the Rams are looking to have a strong finish in order to carry some momentum into next season. With Fontan averaging 15.0 points per game and Moore contributing 13.4 per game, the future looks bright for the Rams, who will miss the Atlantic 10 Championship for only the first time since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference back in 1995-96.
Eye on an Explorer: The Seniors
Forward Paul Johnson
Team captain Paul Johnson will play his final game at Tom Gola Arena as a La Salle Explorer on Wednesday evening against the Fordham Rams. The lone scholarship senior has started in 63 of the 116 games in which he has played in. So far at La Salle, Johnson has only missed two games as an Explorer. After playing in every game as a freshman, Johnson started in all 32 games as a junior where he averaged 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 74.1 percent from the free throw line. Johnson would go on to be named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area and Atlantic 10 All-Academic teams for his success that season. As a sophomore, Johnson contributed a career-high 17 points and six assists against the Penn Quakers. The Washington D.C. native has been a vital complement off the bench for the Explorers this season, especially in the recent weeks without junior Yves Mekongo Mbala. Johnson’s legacy in the Blue and Gold will go down as him being a leader, key component and stepping stone for the La Salle men’s basketball program.
Career Stat Line: 5.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 103 steals, 45.6 field goal percentage, 21.2 minutes per game
Guard Brad Cohen
Walk-on senior Brad Cohen will culminate his four seasons with the Explorers, following their postseason run. Cohen has received the call to come off the bench only 13 times in his La Salle career, but has made the most of his time. This year, Cohen has played in four games where he has converted 3-of-4 field goal attempts. In addition to his La Salle basketball career, Cohen represented the United States in the 2007 European Maccabi Games.
Career Stat Line: The Explorers are 13-0 when Brad Cohen enters a game. 18 points in 19 total minutes. 42.9 three-point field goal percentage
Key Matchup: Kimmani Barrett vs. Mike Moore
Through 14 conference games this season, Fordham sophomore Mike Moore is the team’s second leading scorer at 15.1 points per game. Over the course of the last six games, Moore has scored 20 or more points in five of those games. La Salle junior Kimmani Barrett has averaged 10.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in conference play thus far. In four of the last six games, Barrett has reached double figures and, during that span, he has posted 13.2 points per game and claimed a career-high 20 points in the win at Temple.
