La Salle rides 1st-half burst to defeat Mercer 95-85

Dec 17, 2017, 07:18 pm

PHILADELPHIA -- B.J. Johnson scored 25 points, Pookie Powell scored 24 and La Salle beat Mercer 95-85 on Sunday.

La Salle (6-6) made 16 of 29 3-pointers (55 percent) and were two made 3s away from the school record set on three occasions. The Explorers finished shooting 54 percent (31 of 57) overall.

Isiah Deas made back-to-back 3s, Johnnie Schuler added a 3 and Johnson scored the next seven points with a 3 and four free throws as the Explorers built an early 24-13 lead.

Ria'n Holland countered with back-to-back 3s and Stephon Jelks added one to reduce Mercer's deficit to 27-22, but La Salle broke it open with a 22-7 run to close the half and never looked back.

Johnnie Shuler scored 13 points and Saul Phiri and Isiah Deas each scored 11 for La Salle. Amar Stukes had 10 assists.

Holland scored a career-high 33 points -- was 6 of 9 from 3-point range -- and Jelks scored 22 for the Bears (6-5).