On a night when Tim Legler, the school's greatest three-point shooter, was in the house, La Salle (17-6, 6-2 Atlantic 10) was 10-for-21 from the arc. And Wright (18 points) was 8-for-10 in the low post. When they have all that going for them, how does one guard this team?
"Honestly, I don't think you can," said Duren, who scored 22 points and completely controlled the pace of the game. "If you guard us tight on the wing, we're going to go by you with the four guards. If they step up off of Jerrell, he's going to dunk it. If you ask me, it's pretty hard. As long as we're doing what we got to do on defense and we're doing everything on offense, I don't think anybody can guard us."
La Salle coach John Giannini did not disagree with his point guard. When they are making threes and scoring in the post, "there is no easy answer at that point," the coach said.
La Salle has hit the halfway point of the conference season alone in first place. It is the best league record the school has had at this stage since joining the A-10 in 1995-96. If only some actual bodies could find their way to 20th and Olney. Now, 1778 was a very good year, but not such a good crowd.
La Salle looked like it was going to run away in the first half when it led, 31-21, but Charlotte, which has not won a league game since winning at Saint Joseph's on Jan. 7, came back to tie. It was 48-36 in the second, but Charlotte (10-11, 2-6) got it back to 51-50. La Salle promptly scored on its next seven possessions, going 6-for-6 with two free throws.
"That zone had us a little stuck," Duren said. "Once everybody calmed down, we got back to doing what we were doing and getting stops."
