The No. 13 seed La Salle Explorers knocked off the No. 13 seed Boise State Broncos and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the West Region Wednesday night, 80-71.
Boise State held a 6-5 lead with 15:50 to go in the first half, but that would be the last time the Broncos led for the remainder of the game.
The Explorers’ athletic guard play proved too much for the Broncos. Over the next six minutes of play, La Salle went on a 20-6 run, giving the Explorers a 13 point lead.
Boise State managed to cut the lead to eight points at halftime following a 10-4 run, but the Broncos could not reduce the deficit to less than five points for the remainder of the game.
Tyrone Garland led the Explorers with 22 points on 9-11 from the floor. Ramon Galloway added 21 points, Sam Mills contributed 15 points and Jerrell Wright scored 13 points. La Salle shot 63.3 percent from the floor and made 11 of 21 from behind the arc. The Explorers’ only struggle was from the line, where they made only 7 of 12 free throw attempts.
Anthony Drmic led the Broncos with 28 points. Derrick Marks added 14 points and seven rebounds while Ryan Watkins contributed 10 points.
The win is La Salle’s first NCAA tournament victory since 1990 and came on the 59th anniversary of its NCAA championship.
The Explorers’ next game will be against No. 4 seed Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Friday at 3:10 p.m. (ET).
For more information, visit www.NCAA.com
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