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RICHMOND, Va. – For the second time in as many games, the La Salle men's basketball team has knocked off a ranked opponent. This time, the Explorers held steady through a second half run by the #19/16 VCU Rams and finished off one of the best weeks in recent history with a 69-61 win at the Siegel Center in front of a national television audience on Saturday night.
 
“I'm really proud of our team,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “VCU is terrific and hard to play against.”
 
Just three days prior, the Blue and Gold (14-5, 4-2 A-10) took down #9/9 Butler in front of a sold-out Gola Arena crowd, 54-53, on senior Ramon Galloway's lay-up with 2.7 seconds left. The student section spilled onto the court not once, but twice, in celebration.
 
This time, the fans wearing gold were cheering for the A-10's other new program, VCU. The Siegel Center was rocking and sold out for the 30th straight time. It's also a place where the Rams owned a 173-28 record heading into the game.
 
Going up against a pro-Ram crowd and “HAVOC”, VCU's up-tempo, ball-pressure style of play that has led the nation in steals the past four years, the Explorers remained calm thanks to the play of their two leaders, Galloway and junior point guard Tyreek Duren.
 
Galloway scored a career-high 31 points and made 9-of-10 free throws, while committing just two turnovers against the relentless pressure.
 
Duren was his usual solid self, going for 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.
 
The victory marked the first time since the 1952 NIT that La Salle has defeated ranked opponents in consecutive games. That team did it three straight times on its way to the NIT Championship.
 
“This is a veteran team that has won,” Giannini said. “We're not surprised that we won.”
 
La Salle took a 34-25 lead into intermission but the homestanding Rams weren't going to go down without a fight. VCU started the half on a 17-0 run that turned a nine-point deficit into a 42-34 lead with 14:35 to play.
 
“Every team is going to make a run,” Duren said. “Especially VCU because of how fast they play. We weren't really worried about it because basketball is a game of runs.”
 
“It takes a lot of poise and confidence to withstand that against such a good team in such an emotional atmosphere,” Giannini said.
 
With the roof ready to blow off the arena, La Salle stayed calm and went on a 22-7 run to take control of the game. Galloway had 12 points during the spurt.
 
VCU cut it to one with 2:49 to play but La Salle made 13 of 14 free throws down the stretch, all from Galloway and Duren, to ice the game.
 
 “For me and for my teammates, this is a huge step,” Galloway said. “But we need to play at this level every time out.”
 
Juvonte Reddic had 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Treveon Graham had 13 points and 12 boards for the Rams (16-5, 4-2 A-10), who had won 13 straight before falling to Richmond on Thursday.
 
The Explorers are back in action on Wednesday when they host UMass on Wednesday at 7 PM.