St. Louis eliminates La Salle from Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament, 71-51

La Salle ended its run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday as St. Louis defeated the Explorers, 71-51, in the second round at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

The Explorers (11-19) were riding a four-game winning streak, but couldn’t make it five, mainly because they shot only 17.2% in the first half. La Salle couldn’t stop the Billikens’ high-powered offense in either half, and St. Louis — which led by as much as 33 — cruised to victory. The Explorers held the advantage for just 25 seconds in the contest.

“St. Louis is a tough, athletic, skilled team and they played well today,” said La Salle coach Ashley Howard. “I thought early in the game, we were able to hang in there with them, but defensively they really bothered us.”

Gibson Jimerson led the Billikens (22-10) with 19 points. Khalil Brantley and Jhamir Brickus led La Salle with 11 points each.

St. Louis will play fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals on Friday.

La Salle made only four of its first 18 shots. The Billikens found their rhythm as the first half wore on, holding a 16-11 lead at the under-12 timeout after a 7-0 run.

“I thought we had some clean looks early that didn’t fall for us,” said Howard. “It sort of allowed [St. Louis] to get out in transition and they jumped on us.”

After shooting 57.1% from the field in the first half of Wednesday’s win against St. Joseph’s, the Explorers suffered through a scoring drought of 6 minutes, 29 seconds in the first half. Over one stretch, they missed 13 straight field goals.

The scoring duo of Clifton Moore and Jack Clark struggled mightily against St. Louis. At halftime, the Billikens held a 34-16 lead. Clark had only four points and Moore was scoreless. Clark was 1-for-7 shooting; Moore was 0-for-7.

Moore scored his first points of the game with 10:01 to go in the contest, converting a three-point play. Clark did not score in the second half.

Just when La Salle fans thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. The Billikens opened the second half on an 18-9 run. La Salle had six turnovers during the same stretch. St. Louis’ lead ballooned to 33.

For the last nine minutes of the game, which could be referred to as “garbage time,” St. Louis head coach Travis Ford rested his starters in bunches. La Salle was still fighting, at one point cutting the deficit to 18, but the damage had already been done.

Moore made history after La Salle’s last game, taking sole possession of the school’s single-season block record. Moore needed just 29 games to surpass Lionel Simmons’s 77 rejections (in 34 games) during the 1987-88 season.

“He is a hard worker, he is a great kid,” Howard said of Moore. “I am so proud of him. … I think Clifton Moore is one of the best big guys in our conference.”

With two blocks against the Billikens, Moore finished the 2021-22 campaign with 83.

“I’m proud of the fact that these guys stuck together through some really challenging times this season,” Howard said.