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La Salle men’s losing skid hits four straight in 77-53 road loss to Dayton

Just one more game remains for the Explorers to move up before the start of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Monday.

La Salle guard Khalil Brantley led the Explorers with 19 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 77-53 road loss to Dayton.
La Salle guard Khalil Brantley led the Explorers with 19 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 77-53 road loss to Dayton.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

La Salle didn’t do itself any favors in the mission to move higher in the Atlantic 10 conference standings with a 77-53 road loss to Dayton in men’s college hoops action on Tuesday night.

If it had been a win, the Explorers (13-17, 7-10 Atlantic 10) would have moved up to a tie for eighth place in the upcoming A-10 tournament beginning next Monday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn alongside St. Bonaventure.

Currently, La Salle sits in a two-way tie for the No. 11 seed alongside Big 5 foe St. Joseph’s as the two share an identical conference record — and now losing skid, which has reached four straight games.

» READ MORE: La Salle's Molly Masciantonio is on the ball — and on top of the country in assist-to-turnover ratio

In getting the win, Dayton (20-10, 12-5) moved into the No. 2 spot behind conference leader Virginia Commonwealth heading into the A-10 tournament in which the top four seeds secure a double bye.

La Salle has one more chance to conceivably move up to No. 8 but many scenarios would need to occur — including an Explorers win and a Bonnies loss in both of their final games of the regular season. The Explorers could even earn the seed via a tiebreaker, stemming from a 76-70 win over the Bonnies back on Feb. 8.

Statistical leaders

Khalil Brantley led the Explorers with 19 points and eight rebounds. La Salle also received solid contributions off the bench from Josh Nickleberry (15 points) and freshman Rokas Jocius who finished with 10 points and nine boards.

Daron Holmes had a double-double for Dayton with his team-high 16-point, 10-rebound performance. Toumani Camara added 14 points and Mustapha Amzil scored 10 off the bench.

What we saw

A slow start from the La Salle ended with promise after the Explorers embarked on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to be down by just six at the half.

In the second half, Dayton took over largely from beyond the arc hitting 5 of 6 from three-point range. In the final three minutes of play, the Explorers couldn’t buy a basket — or earn a pivotal rebound after attempt after attempt at the basket failed.

On the plus side for La Salle was the night it received from Jocius as the freshman from Lithuania came off the bench to fuel an Explorer run in the first half and provide a push in the second. His presence was certainly felt as the 6-foot-10 forward mixed it up, pounding the paint and hitting perimeter jumpers in his minutes.

Up next

The Explorers have one more game left before the start of the A-10 tournament, in a home finale against last place Loyola-Chicago on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).

» READ MORE: 'A great team with great kids:' A trip down memory lane with La Salle's 1989-90 NCAA Tournament team