Explorers

The La Salle Explorers did the unthinkable last season as they rose from the ashes of a 3-7 season to go 9-1 (10-1 overall) and capture the Catholic League Northern Division regular-season championship. The fact that they were upset by Bishop Egan - a team they had beaten eight days earlier - in an opening-round playoff game did little to detract from their nearly perfect season. But they will be hard-pressed to repeat their efforts this time unless they come up with a few real sleepers to replace some key graduates.

La Salle finally won an Atlantic 10 Conference game, and it took a record performance to do it. The Explorers, whose defense over a five-game league losing streak had been downy soft, limited Dayton to a season-low 21 first-half points en route to a 73-60 victory last night in the Core-States Spectrum. A big factor in the upset was La Salle junior forward K'Zell Wesson, believed to hold the unofficial school record for being the largest vegetarian (6-7, 254 pounds) from Oregon with an apostrophe in his first name.

When it was finally, mercifully over, La Salle basketball coach Speedy Morris sort of shrugged and smiled a bit, glad to be done with it. It was La Salle's 96-76 win last night over a team called National Republic of Russia in an exhibition game at the Civic Center. Don't expect too many of the players on this Russian team to appear in Barcelona for the Olympics next summer. "My philosophy on playing these games is just to get into some game situations," Morris said. "We don't have all of our stuff in and we played everybody.

The La Salle Explorers still have the nation's longest winning streak, but they aren't likely to jump many spots in the polls as a result of yesterday's game against St. Peter's. Swingman Tony Walker missed a free throw late in regulation time that could have given St. Peter's a one-point victory. That opened the door for La Salle to escape with a 74-66 overtime triumph at Yanitelli Center. "I felt I was going to get a roll," said Walker, who had slipped past Lionel Simmons to score on an offensive rebound and tie the game at 61-61 with 26 seconds left, drawing a foul by Randy Woods in the process.

La Salle beat Siena, 106-90, last night in the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. It was a minor detail. Moments before the rout ended, the La Salle players received word that Hank Gathers, a fellow Philadelphian and a good friend, had collapsed and died while playing for Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference tournament. The Explorers' victory over Siena (16-13) sent them into tonight's 9 p.m. championship game against Fordham, an 82-71 winner over Holy Cross in last night's first semifinal.

Everett Catlin, a 6-7, 240-pound power forward from Dover High School in Dover, Del., has made a verbal commitment to play basketball at La Salle beginning in the 1993-94 season. His final two schools were La Salle and Richmond. "It was the best place for me," Catlin said. "I really liked the coaches and the players. I really like Philly. And when you're on the campus, it's like you're not really even in the city. " Catlin is described as a fierce rebounder and defender who plays hard from start to finish.

La Salle appeared to send a message to Manhattan last night, rolling to a 90-67 victory over a Jaspers team that probably will be the top seed for next weekend's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. Fueled by "Senior Night" at the Civic Center, Randy Woods scored 37 points and Jack Hurd 23 as the Explorers (16-10 overall, 11-4 in the MAAC) used a 12-for-28 performance from three-point range and a 41-29 rebounding edge to avenge a 67-65 loss at Manhattan a month ago. A message?

Bethlehem Liberty outscored La Salle in every quarter Saturday night and won the consolation game of the Reading High School Tournament, 62-55. La Salle, which fell into the consolation round by losing to York on Friday, 64-55, received 19 points from senior forward Malcom Macklin on Saturday. However, no other La Salle player scored more than 9 points, and the Explorers fell victim to Liberty's high-scoring offense. "We just didn't play well overall," said La Salle coach Marty Jackson.

Speedy Morris is one confident guy. After his La Salle basketball team easily dispatched Fordham, 85-69, yesterday in the semifinals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament at Brendan Byrne Arena, Morris was asked whether he thought that his 25-5 Explorers had earned an NCAA bid, regardless of how they fare tomorrow night against St. Peter's in the final. "There's absolutely no way in God's world we won't go," Morris said. And just to clarify that statement, Morris continued.

An exuberant Ron Barnes did a little soul stepping. Next to him Lionel Simmons waved his arms in the air, keeping time with the La Salle students as they serenaded the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans with a couple choruses of the ever-popular "Na-Na-Na-Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye. " Larry Koretz was content to clap his hands in time to the music and to exchange a sweaty embrace with coach Speedy Morris, the man who had brought them to this, the brink of a National Invitation Tournament championship.