St Josephs (Penn.) St.Joes(PA)/LA Salle La Salle Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Victor Thomas scored 26 points, including four free throws in the final two minutes, as La Salle withstood a late rally and beat St. Joseph's (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) 91-90 Saturday night, snapping the Hawks' 10-game winning streak.

"We've had a rough year and we've lost some games at the end, so this feels great," Thomas said.

Julian Blanks, who finished with 20 points, made seven of 10 free throws in the final minute and his two with 7.2 seconds left put the Explorers (11-16, 5-11 Atlantic 10) up 91-87.

"Blanks was outstanding. We needed that to beat a very good team," La Salle coach Speedy Morris said.

La Salle, which had lost four straight, led 78-68 with 1:19 left, but Hawks leading scorer Marvin O'Connor kept the game alive, scoring 18 of his 37 points in the final 59 seconds. The Explorers went to the line 10 times over the final 1:49, making 16 of 20.

"We stretched the game as far as you could take it," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. "We missed layups, we got ourebounded, we gave up too many offensive rebounds."

St. Joseph's (14-5, 14-1) shot 33 percent in the first 18 minutes of the second half and O'Connor was just 1-for-6 from the field until the final two minutes of the game.

Morris described O'Connor as "Marvin the Magnificent."

"I thought he had 50 – and they were tough shots, no easy ones," Morris said. "The last two minutes seemed like an eternity."

St. Joseph's led 37-34 at halftime, but La Salle opened the second half with an 11-2 run, including seven points by Rasul Butler. He capped the run with a layup at 17:41 when he rebounded his own missed 3-point attempt.

Bill Phillips kept the Hawks in the game, scoring the team's first 10 points of the second half and later scored nine points in a 13-2 run that gave St. Joseph's a 52-47 lead with 12:49 left. Phillips finished with 18 points and five rebounds.

The Explorers then held the Hawks scoreless for 4:42 and built a 71-64 lead with a 13-0 run marked by two 3-pointers from Rasheed Quadri. La Salle never trailed again.

Hawks freshman Jameer Nelson now has 180 assists, breaking the school's season record of 176 set by Matt Goukas Jr. in 1965-66.

La Salle has won four of the last four meetings with St. Joseph's, which defeated La Salle in last season's Atlantic 10 tournament. La Salle trails the all-time series of Big Five rivals 55-48.

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

St Josephs (Penn.) Clubhouse

LA Salle Clubhouse