La Salle holds off Lansdale Catholic

SPRINGFIELD >> Friday night’s Philadelphia Catholic League game between La Salle College High School and Lansdale Catholic was not decided until the final minute. The largest lead of the game was La Salle by 10, and that was back to single digits on the very next possession.

The Explorers’ Matt Paulus and Ryan McTamney went a combined 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute to secure La Salle’s 60-52 victory over the Crusaders.

The only double-digit lead for La Salle came early in the fourth quarter, 38-28. Lansdale Catholic responded with a 9-2 run to cut its deficit to three.

Each time the differential was down to a single possession in the final five minutes, the Explorers (13-2, 5-1) immediately built it back to a two-possession game.

Jarrod Stukes responded with a layup to get La Salle’s lead back to five, 42-37. McTamney scored two of his 14 fourth-quarter points with 3:50 to play to take another three-point lead to five two possessions later.

McTameny built two-possession leads two more times, with a three-pointer and a basket and-one in the next minute.

Stukes made another shot to turn a 50-47 lead into a five-point game and from there it was down to McTamney and Paulus’ free-throw shooting.

Dan Modestine and Mike Ottomano kept the Crusaders (2-12, 0-6) in the game in the final minutes. Modestine scored seven of his team-high 16 points in the fourth and Ottomano scored all 11 of his points in the final frame, including three clutch three-pointers.

McTamney led the Explorers in scoring with 25 points – 21 of which came in the second half. Paulus added 13 and Konrad Kiszka had eight.

Following Modestine and Ottomano, Ryan Braun had eight for LC and Noah Saba totaled six.

The Explorers built there 10-point lead with a 7-0 run that ended the third quarter and started the fourth. Stukes made his first basket of the game – a three-pointer – in the final minute of the third to turn a 31-28 game into a six-point Explorer lead. Paulus made two free throws in the final second of the third and Kiszka had a put-back early in the fourth to make it a 10-point game.

Lansdale Catholic is back in action Sunday, hosting Cardinal O’Hara at 2 p.m. La Salle hosts Roman Catholic at Arcadia University Monday at 7 p.m.