“It played out exactly the way we thought it would play out … they really get you out of rhythm.” This quote by Davidson head coach Bob McKillop more than summed up a game that seemed to have more breaks and stoppages of play than it did action. La Salle slowed the game down, but it was not enough to stop Davidson’s potent three point shooting and solid transition play.
La Salle went to a zone for a good part of the first half, and Davidson had some trouble solving it when they weren’t getting out in transition. The transition offense, however, produced a number of open looks for three on the left wing, and several open layups under the basket. Davidson slowly began to pull away as the first half went on, turning La Salle over and staking themselves a 10 point lead. La Salle was able to cut that lead down to 7 points at the half, but Davidson senior guard Brian Sullivan made sure it got no closer than that. He hit three straight three pointers to open up the second half, and finished with 20 points on the night.
Davidson’s lead bounced between 10 and 15 points for most of the second half, and an emphatic dunk by Aldridge with about 7:00 to play seemed to seal the deal for the Wildcats. A couple of clutch jumpers and made free throws down the stretch salted the game away for Davidson to the tune of a 13 point victory. Both teams go on the road for their next game on Saturday, February 15th – Davidson travels to take on George Mason, while La Salle plays their cross-town rival Saint Joseph’s
News & Notes
- This was La Salle’s first ever trip to Belk Arena.
- With the win, Davidson has now won 31 of their last 33 home games at Belk Arena, and are 10-1 on the season.
- Davidson sophomore guard Rusty Reigel, who had no career starts before last Saturday’s game against Duquesne, earned his second consecutive start for the Wildcats.
- Yevgen Sakhniuk, La Salle’s 6’7” forward from the Ukraine, had missed the previous 12 games due to sickness. He scored 14 first half points on 7 of 9 shooting, and finished the game with 20 points.
- Davidson assisted on 24 of their 29 made shots
- Davidson shot 50% from three, making 12 of their 24 attempts from deep.
