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PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle men's basketball team withstood a second-half surge by Massachusetts to come out on top 82-75 in an Atlantic 10 contest on Sunday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.

La Salle continued its record-setting win streak at Gola Arena, with 11 straight, dating back to last season.

The Explorers (12-4, 2-0 A-10) start conference play at 2-0 for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Senior Earl Pettis added 19 points and junior Ramon Galloway had 18.  Freshman Jerrell Wright led all rebounders with 12 boards. 

Chaz Williams led UMass (12-4, 1-1) with a game-high 24 points, including several clutch buckets down the stretch.  Jesse Morgan, who played at nearby Olney High School, hit a career-high 22 points in front of a hometown crowd.

La Salle jumped out to a 51-25 lead at the half, the second time this season the Explorers hit the 50-point mark during the first half.  The Explorers used 10-for-16 shooting from beyond the arc and dominated UMass, the second-highest scoring team in the league, defensively.

But after the break, the Explorers had to work for the win.

UMass came out with a zone defense that tested the Blue and Gold and the Explorers couldn't get as many good looks from beyond the arc.

With a lapse in the Explorer defense, the Minutemen closed the deficit to 59-46 by the midpoint of the second half.

“I thought that their zone changed things and the tempo slowed down,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “We held on. It's hard to hold a lead for 40 minutes against an established Division I team.”

Out of the final media timeout, Williams drove to the basket for a layup for UMass and got the foul to get the Minutemen within seven at 67-60 with 2:31 to play.

Devon White converted on an and-1 play and Galloway stole the ball on the other end of the court and added two free throws after being fouled to put La Salle up by double figures again at 72-60 with 1:49 to play.

UMass, putting the Explorers on the line as time ran down, would stick around though in the closing minutes.  Morgan hit a pair of free throws to cut the Explorer lead to just five at 80-75 with 24 seconds on the clock.

The Explorers hung on to record their tenth win in their last 11 games.

La Salle outrebounded UMass 41-31.  The Explorers shot .475 in the contest to the Minutemen's .419.

LU will next travel across town to play Penn at the Palestra on Tuesday evening.  Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Palestra box office at 215-898-6151 or click here.