"We're so much more concerned with our team and how we play than the standings," said Giannini, whose Explorers (11-15, 3-9 A-10) went into the contest tied for 11th place with the Bonnies (11-14, 4-8) in the 14-team conference. Only the top 12 teams play in the postseason tournament.
"It's kind of like you're in intensive care and you're missing work days," Giannini said. "You're not worried about the secondary things when you're fighting for existence."
La Salle was forced to use just seven players as seniors Kimmani Barrett, Yves Mekongo and Ruben Guillandeaux are out with injuries.
Barrett has a broken bone in his right foot. Mekongo is out with a fractured pinkie finger on his left hand. Guillandeaux has a stress fracture in his right foot.
"Every day is a quandary for us," Giannini said. "It's really an awkward position about what to do in practice. Do you try to get guys in shape or keep them fresh?"
Injuries were not the only reason the Explorers lost to the Bonnies.
La Salle shot 35.2 percent overall and 19 percent from three-point range, while making only 12 of 27 free throws.
"Our shooting percentages speak for themselves," Giannini said. "We just couldn't make a shot or free throw when it counted."
Trailing 36-34 at the break, the Explorers missed their first four shots of the second half. Meanwhile, the Bonnies went on a 9-0 run to extend its lead to 45-34.
La Salle scored the next six points of the game to pull to within 45-40. But the Bonnies answered with long-distance accuracy.
Senior guard Chris Matthews knocked down back-to-back threes to put St. Bonaventure up 61-50 with 8:44 left. Then, he drilled a pair of threes on two more occasions in the final half when La Salle had to trimmed to six.
In all, Matthews hit six treys in the second half and finished with seven triples and 21 points overall.
The Bonnies, who ended a 17-game losing streak in Philadelphia, shot 42.9 percent from the field and made just nine of 21 free throws.
They were led by sophomore forward Andrew Nicholson, who had a game-high 24 points and team-high eight rebounds.
Junior forward Steve Weingarten had career highs of 18 points and 17 rebounds for La Salle. Senior guard Rodney Green, who came into the game averaging 18.4 points, shot 5-for-22 from the field and finished with 11 points.
"In our situation, if [Rodney's] having a tough time, it's going to be very difficult for us," Giannini said.
Not even the efforts of junior forward Jerrell Williams (13 points, 14 rebounds) and freshman center Aaric Murray (13 points, seven rebounds, five blocks) were enough to overcome Green's struggles.
"This whole year has been very tough for us," Weingarten said. "Every day we've just got to keep working as hard as we can."
