Explorers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - La Salle is one win away from an improbable berth in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, and standing in the way could be a person who certainly knows how to draw attention, even from the greatest basketball player on the planet. When No. 13-seeded La Salle (23-9) meets No. 12-seeded Mississippi (27-8) in Sunday's 7:40 p.m. West Regional third-round game at the Sprint Center, the Explorers will have to stop the Rebels' potent inside game. But junior guard Marshall Henderson will occupy a prominent part of the scouting report.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For La Salle's Jerrell Wright, standing at the free throw line with 30 seconds to play Friday and the purple-clad crowd at the Sprint Center yelling in one continuous deafening roar, it came down to one word. In. Wright, the Explorers' 6-foot-8 sophomore center who went into the game shooting 60 percent from the line, connected on two free throws to give his team the lead. Then he hit an insurance freebie with 9.6 seconds left in 13th-seeded La Salle's improbable 63-61 victory over No. 4 Kansas State in a second-round NCAA West Regional game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For La Salle's Jerrell Wright, standing at the free-throw line with 30 seconds to play Friday and the purple-clad crowd at the Sprint Center yelling in one continuous deafening roar, it came down to one word. In . Wright, the Explorers' 6-foot-8 sophomore center who went into the game shooting 60 percent from the line, connected on two free throws to give his team the lead. Then he hit an insurance freebie with 9.6 seconds left in 13th-seeded La Salle's improbable 63-61 victory over No. 4 Kansas State in a second-round NCAA West Regional game.

A giant blinking eye appears on the screen, followed by a close-up of how optic nerves are connected to the brain. Before long, viewers are whizzing through space. The computer-rendered graphics are worthy of any science-fiction film, but this is a movie about science facts. Called To Space & Back , coproduced by the Franklin Institute and a New Hampshire company called Sky-Scan Inc., the film explores the benefits of space exploration. It started showing daily at the science museum this week.

It seems like such a basic point, but it was the difference in La Salle winning its first NCAA basketball game since 1990 and what could be the key to the Explorers extending their season - getting a lead and running with it. The biggest factor in La Salle beating Boise state 80-71 in Wednesday's NCAA first-round game in Dayton, Ohio was that the Explorers took control from the beginning. And despite some late runs by Boise State, they road that early momentum to a victory. What turned out to be a game-long lead allowed the Explorers to control tempo.

DAYTON, Ohio - When he senses his players feeling a little intimidated, La Salle's basketball coach looks to Villanova. Dr. John Giannini looks to the 2005-06 Wildcats, specifically; an undersized team that played ravenously. In the bruising Big East Conference, they slayed giants all season en route to the Elite Eight. Giannini knew this edition of Explorers, rebuilt for the third time in his nine seasons, might do something special, too. They might win the Big 5. They might make the NCAA Tournament.

DAYTON, Ohio - Whatever 23 years weighs, it is a load best shared. The last time La Salle won a game in the NCAA tournament, Lionel Simmons wore one of those blue-and-gold uniforms on his lean, athletic frame. On Wednesday night, the bespectacled, 44-year-old Simmons sat in the stands - the embodiment of all the years that had passed since La Salle's last great era. If those years added a gray hair or two to Simmons' beard, they represented an undeserved burden for the current Explorers.

KANSAS CITY - La Salle's first NCAA Tournament game in 21 years, and its first NCAA win in 23, ended Wednesday night in Dayton around 11:15. The Explorers left the arena about 1 hour, 15 minutes later. After a brief stop at their hotel and a 20-minute ride to the airport, their charter flight took off at approximately 1:30. It landed here some 2 hours later, but there is a 60-minute time-zone difference. Following another bus ride to another hotel the players finally got to their rooms in time to maybe catch the last "SportsCenter" replay from the West Coast before hopefully going to bed. The good news, other than the fact that they're still playing?

DAYTON, Ohio - Tyrone Garland is unflappable, providing instant offense off the bench, reveling in taking the big shots. Garland took plenty and made most of them Wednesday night, helping La Salle defeat Boise State, 80-71, in a first-round NCAA tournament game at the University of Dayton Arena. La Salle (22-9) will play Kansas State in a second-round game Friday at 3:10 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo. It was La Salle's first NCAA win since the Explorers beat Southern Mississippi, 79-63, in the first round of the 1990 tournament.