Simon’s shot spurs La Salle to overtime win over Carlisle

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CHESTER >> Sean Simon was mad at himself for a couple seconds, until he saw a second chance.

After missing a would-be game-tying 3-pointer, the La Salle junior had a chance to redeem himself. So he slid back to an open position and drilled his second try, sending his team to overtime with Carlisle.

It was just what the Explorers needed as they kept the momentum rolling into the extra period and topped Carlisle 73-66 at the Pete and Jameer Nelson Play-by-Play Classic Thursday afternoon at Widener University.

“I was thinking, ‘Damn, I can’t believe I just missed that,’” Simon said. “Then I saw we got the rebound and Jarrod (Stukes) had it and we practice every day if someone drives, you come up the wing. I came up the wing, he passed me the ball and I knew it was good as soon as it left my hand.”

It’s been a challenging road to open the season for La Salle basketball.

Tough games, coupled with a lineup featuring just two seniors and starting two sophomores had the Explorers (5-3) off to an uneven start. For the first half of their game Thursday, it looked like more of the same.

La Salle was sloppy on offense and lackadaisical on defense, letting Carlisle get too many easy rebounds and too many quick points in transition. The Explorers let the Thundering Herd take a 10-point lead, even with star senior DeShawn Millington struggling with his shot in the first half.

“We got outworked,” La Salle coach Joe Dempsey said. “We play three, sometimes four sophomores so we are just not that physically strong. They got to the rim too much, we made a concerted effort to keep Millington away from the rim and we just could not keep him out of the lane.”

The second half was a chance to adjust and the Explorers got their act together. Trailing 25-18 at the break, La Salle started to cut into the lead by hustling back on defense and getting tougher on the glass.

Sophomore big man Konrad Kiszka had a thundering dunk early in the third that sparked his bench and the other guys on the floor. Kiszka and fellow sophomore big Zach Crisler both stepped up when La Salle needed them to.

Kiszka, who also had a big dunk in overtime, tied with Simon for a team-high 19 points and also had nine rebounds. Crisler scored 14 and had 10 boards, none bigger than the offensive rip after Simon’s missed 3-pointer to set up the tying shot.

“Things changed when we stopped turning the ball over and started playing defense because we were just letting them do whatever they wanted,” Simon said. “We didn’t start jacking shots to try and get a lead back in two possessions. We played hard and fought to get it back.”

Crisler hit a 3 with 7:11 left in the fourth to tie the game 39-39 and set up a roller coaster finish. Millington, who scored a game-high 24, got himself going in the second half and countered Crisler’s make with an old-school three-point play.

Millington’s assist to Ethan Houston put Carlisle up 46-42 with 4:53 left and his foul shots again pushed the lead to four with 2:05 to play.

La Salle came back with five straight and took a 49-48 lead on Kiszka’s foul shot to complete a three-point play and give La Salle its first lead since 3-0.

“We only gave up two transition points after the half and we made an effort to start getting back,” Dempsey said. “Once we started keeping them in front of us, it was a different game.”

Millington split a pair of foul shots with 45.2 left to give the Herd a 53-50 advantage, setting up La Salle’s pivotal possession. Simon didn’t move too much from where he missed but had plenty of room and time to set himself on the second try.

“When Jarrod drives, you have to respect that because he’s probably get by whoever’s guarding him,” Simon said. “My guy hedged a little bit, I saw him do that so I ran to the line, planted my feet and shot it.”

Millington was short on a potential game-winner and as the extra session started, the Explorers felt like momentum was on their side. The opening tap was going to be critical and when La Salle won it, it paid off right away.

Stukes zipped down the court and right to the rim, finishing through contact and sinking the freebie for good measure.

“He’s our engine, there’s no doubt,” Dempsey said.

La Salle scored the first eight points of overtime then with Carlisle fouling, hit 12-of-14 at the line to finish off the game. The Herd didn’t go quietly, getting within 68-64 with 26.2 left on a deep trey by Gavin Barnes.

La Salle returns to Widener on Friday for a 1:45 p.m. meeting with St. Elizabeth’s of Delaware. Then, it’s on to the Catholic League.

“It’s important for us because nobody was really talking about us (as a team) before the game and we were definitely the underdog coming into this game,” Simon said. “A win like this can really boost us going into the Catholic League.”

La Salle 73, Carlisle 66 (OT)
Carlisle  18 7 12 16 13 — 66
La Salle 9 9 16 19 20 — 73
Carlisle (66): Deshawn Millington 8 8-14 24, Gavin Barnes 5 3-4 16, Ethan Houston 7 1-2 16, Nate Barnes 3 0-2 6, Nikhi Barnes 1 1-2 4. Totals: 24 13-24 66
La Salle (73): Sean Simon 5 7-8 19, Konrad Kiszka 6 5-5 19, Jarrod Stukes 4 6-10 14, Zach Chrisler 4 5-7 14, Allen Powell 2 2-2 7. Nonscoring: Matt Paulus, Brett Werner. Totals: 21 25-32 73
3-pointers: C-G Barnes 3, N Barnes, Houston; L-Simon 2, Kiszka 2, Powell, Crisler.

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Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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