For La Salle, there is no place like home.
The Explorers, coming off two consecutive road losses, used a strong second half en route to a decisive 80-66 victory over Rhode Island at Tom Gola Arena. The win was the 12th straight at home for La Salle going back to last season.
"If you study college basketball . . . every top team wins at home," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "This group does what good teams do: win at home. It is a huge mark of success for the program."
Tyreek Duren finished with 21 points and six assists in 31 minutes. Earl Pettis added 19 points for La Salle. The Explorers (14-6, 3-2 A-10) were efficient from the field, shooting 65 percent in the second half and 56 percent on the game.
"We play four guards, so you are going to shoot a lot of threes as a result," Duren said after the game.
La Salle, which was 8 for 17 from beyond the arc, came into the game shooting 40 percent from deep.
Standing out was freshman Jerrell Wright, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds in extended minutes. La Salle was playing without senior forward Devon White, who was held out of the game due to concussion-like symptoms.
"I didn't focus on offense. I focused on defense, stopping their big men," Wright said. "The offense just came. The guards got me the ball and I tried to attack."
The Explorers led 32-17 in the first half before a 18-3 Rhode Island (3-17, 0-5 A-10) run tied the game at halftime. In the second half, La Salle held Rhode Island to 37 percent shooting from the field, outscoring them 20-12 over the final eight minutes.
Rhode Island's recent top scorer was Virginia transfer Billy Baron, who finished with one point and was 0 for 5 from the floor. Baron had averaged 18.4 points over the last five games.
"We have good guards and are good defensively." Giannini said, when asked about Baron. "We've done this every night. You don't win 14 games by accident. The reason we are winning games is that we are stopping good players."
Jonathan Holton paced Rhode Island with 18 points and 17 rebounds and Andre Malone finished with 15 points. The loss was the fifth straight for the Rams, who have dropped 14 of their last 16 games.
