La Salle survives George Washington, advances to second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament

NEW YORK — After going down by as many as nine points in the first half, La Salle clawed back to edge George Washington, 61-60, in the first round of the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament.

La Salle (16-16) beat the Revolutionaries (15-17) twice during the regular season, including the final game ever at Tom Gola Arena. On Tuesday at the Barclays Center, the Explorers made it a perfect 3-0, advancing to face No. 7 seed St. Bonaventure (18-12) in the second round on Wednesday (5 p.m., USA Network).

With GW leading by one with 27.8 seconds remaining, Jhamir Brickus made a jumper for a team-high 21 points and drew a foul, but the senior guard couldn’t sink the free throw. La Salle needed a stop in the final 15 seconds, and it got one — James Bishop IV’s three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim, sending La Salle to the next round.

“I wasn’t ready to go home,” Brickus said. “So in that moment, I just was trying to do anything that I could do for my team to win.”

Brickus made a pull-up jumper on La Salle’s first possession of the game, but from there the Explorers went ice cold, while GW scored nine straight to jump ahead to an early lead.

“We double-teamed three times, and it cost us dearly,” La Salle coach Fran Dunphy said. “We poorly executed on those plays. ... That cost us probably nine points in the first half. That was critical. And I thought we did a better job in the second half.”

The Explorers’ defense kept the score closer than it could have been early on, but they couldn’t match the intensity at the other end. La Salle had four steals in the first seven minutes of the game but kept coming up empty after struggling to finish at the rim.

And when the Explorers missed — which was frequent — they weren’t winning the battle on the glass. La Salle finished with seven offensive boards in the first half, leading to only two second-chance points.

GW wasn’t shooting much better, ending the first half 28.6% from the field, compared to the Explorers’ 25%. But the Revolutionaries went 8-for-10 from the line, which helped send them into the locker room with a seven-point cushion at halftime.

La Salle clawed back in the second half, helped along by GW missing some open looks, while Brickus and Daeshon Shepherd made some clutch buckets. Brickus was 2-of-3 from three in the second half, with both coming at key moments down the stretch.

“Would I have liked to have had more than eight foul shots for us for the game? Yeah, that would be great,” Dunphy said. “But we found a way, and that’s always the mantra that we have: Let’s find a way. We made some big shots at the right time.”

GW wouldn’t go away, though, with both teams trading the lead for the final nine minutes. The Explorers’ shooting vastly improved to 48.4% from the field and 45.5% from three in the second frame.

Khalil Brantley (15 points) and Shepherd (10) joined Brickus in scoring in double figures for La Salle.

Despite its lower seeding, La Salle has had recent success against St. Bonaventure, beating the Bonnies, 72-59, at home on Feb. 21. The Explorers were feeling it from behind the arc on that occasion, shooting 50% from three in the first half to build a lead they were able to maintain for the remainder of the game.

Shepherd set a career high of 23 points in that game, with four other Explorers also scoring in double figures. Brantley dished seven assists.

“We can compete with anybody in the conference because I think they [were] on a maybe a little run before we played them,” Brantley said. “Anytime I get to lace up my shoes and step in between those four lines and play 94 feet, I feel like we can beat anybody.”

The A-10 unveiled its postseason awards Tuesday, with both teams from Philly well represented. From La Salle, Brickus earned third-team all-conference honors.

From St. Joseph’s, Xzayvier Brown was selected as A-10 rookie of the year and was named to the all-rookie team. The Roman Catholic grad, who averaged 13.3 points on 47.7% shooting, is the fourth Hawk to earn the honor, joining Bernard Blunt, Jameer Nelson, and DeAndre’ Bembry. Brown played in all 31 of the Hawks’ games as a freshman.

Junior guard Erik Reynolds II made the all-conference first team. Reynolds led the Hawks in scoring for the second straight year at 16.8 points per game.

St. Joe’s, seeded No. 9, will meet No. 8 George Mason in the second round on Wednesday (11:30 a.m., USA Network).