La Salle hangs with No. 17 Baylor but can't pull out win

La Salle center Aaric Murray says there are things the Explorers can take from yesterday's 74-64 loss at No. 17 Baylor in Waco, Texas, but pride isn't one of them.

Murray, who led the Explorers (1-1) with 17 points, said his team didn't stick to coach John Giannini's game plan.

"Coach said we had to outrebound their [big men] and we didn't do a good job of doing that today," Murray said. He and Jerrell Williams each had a team-high nine rebounds, but the Explorers lost the battle of the boards, 39-31. "We knew coming in to this game that it was a nationally ranked game and all that, but we didn't stick to our plan."

La Salle trailed by only 32-29 at the half in a game in which the lead changed 12 times. Baylor (2-0) forward Quincy Acy finished with a game-high 25 points and had 11 boards. Perry Jones III (12 points) also snagged 11 rebounds.

La Salle plays host to Prarie View A & M in the opener of the Cancun Challenge tomorrow (7 p.m.) at Tom Gola Arena. The second game in the tournament is against Morgan State Saturday at 3 p.m., also at Gola. Then the tourney moves to Cancun, where the Explorers meet Providence next Tuesday.

"We are a good team, and we showed that we can hang with anybody," Murray said. "But just hanging and not winning games doesn't get you anywhere. Yeah, we can take a lot of good things from this game, but we also need to remember what happens when you don't do the most important thing."