LaSalle defeats St. Joe’s; Dunphy goes out in style

On Saturday, before LaSalle’s battle with Big 5 and A-10 rival St.Joe’s, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro proclaimed March 8 “Fran Dunphy Day” in the commonwealth as the legendary coach was coaching his final game in the city of Philadelphia.

The 76-year-old, who coached at Penn, Temple, and LaSalle, is the all-time winningest coach in Big 5 history, so how he went out on Saturday was fitting.

Behind 27 points from Deuce Jones and 22 from Corey McKeithan, LaSalle(13-18, 5-13) snapped an eight-game losing streak and defeated St. Joe’s(20-11, 11-7) for the first time in three tries this season, 81-74 at John Glaser Arena on the campus of LaSalle University.

This was a great win for the Explorers, and it was great to see Dunphy, who played at LaSalle as a player, go out in style. 

“I’d ​say ​grateful ​was ​the ​word ​of ​today,” Dunphy said after the win… “I’m ​very ​grateful ​for ​the ​relationships ​and ​friendships ​and ​all ​those ​things. ​Grateful ​for ​LaSalle, ​and ​what ​it ​gave ​to ​me ​and ​what ​it’s ​still ​giving.”

When the buzzer sounded, Dunphy, who will assume the role of special assistant to the president at La Salle at season’s end, said he didn’t think about this being his last game in Philly, he thought about his players, which speaks to what he’s all about.

“Yeah, ​I ​didn’t ​think ​about ​the ​final ​home ​game, ​to ​be ​honest with you,” he said. “​I ​thought ​about ​just ​getting ​the ​win, ​and ​we’re struggling ​​against ​a really good ​team, and ​it ​just ​happens ​to ​be ​your ​biggest ​rival ​in ​the ​league ​and ​that ​kind ​of ​thing. ​We ​hadn’t ​done ​well ​against ​St. ​Joe’s ​over ​the ​last ​couple ​of ​years, but ​I ​didn’t ​sit ​there ​and ​say ​that ​was ​my ​last ​game ​that ​I’m ever ​going ​to ​coach ​in ​Philadelphia ​and ​that ​kind of thing. ​It’s ​not ​my ​game. ​I’m happy for the kids.

In 1989, Dunphy was named head coach at Penn, where he would win 10 Ivy League titles, post nine 20-win seasons, and amass a total of 310 victories(the most by any coach in Penn history), and 36 years later, he talked about the difference between him then and now.

“Well, ​I ​think ​for ​all ​of ​us ​to ​go ​through ​that ​life ​experience, ​when ​you’re ​young ​and ​you ​think ​you ​know ​everything, you’re ​tremendously ​insecure ​because ​you ​pretty ​much ​don’t ​know ​anything,” he explained… “​I ​think ​you ​just ​get ​older, ​you ​get ​more ​mature, ​not ​that ​I ​don’t ​have ​my knucklehead ​days, ​I ​certainly ​still ​do… I ​think ​it’s ​just ​that ​there’s ​a ​feeling ​that you’re more secure in who you are.”

The regular season is done and now LaSalle will travel to D.C. to face UMass in the A-10 conference tournament in the first-round game on Wednesday at Capital One Arena. If they win, who will they be playing for the fourth time this season? You guessed it, those St. Joe’s Hawks.

Notes:

-Erik Reynolds II led the Hawks with 22 points and Xzayvier Brown added 15 points.

-St. Joe’s five-game winning streak was snapped after losing to LaSalle on Saturday.

-LaSalle defeated St. Joe’s for the first time since the 2022-23 season.