LaSalle University head coach Fran Dunphy’s illustrious coaching career has come to an end.
On Thursday night, the Explorers fell to their Big 5 rival, the St. Joe’s Hawks, 75-70, in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Hawks (21-11, 11-7) move on to face the Dayton Flyers in the quarterfinals, while the Explorers'(14-19, 5-13) season is over.
These two rivals have been battling each other for 115 years. For the first time in La Salle and Saint Joseph’s 115-year history, the teams have met four times in a season, including Thursday’s game.
St. Joe’s would win three of the four meetings.
LaSalle, which beat UMass in the first round of the A-10 tournament, defeated the Hawks last Saturday in Dunphy’s last game in Philly.
On Thursday, the Explorers were hoping to keep Dunphy’s coaching career alive. However, St. Joe’s had other plans. The Hawks took control early, leading by as many as 11 points in the first half and taking a 36-27 lead at the break.
St. Joe’s kept the lead to double-digits for most of the second half. With 3:46 to go, they took their largest lead of the game at 68-47, and at that point, they figured the game was over.
However, Corey McKeithan would get red-hot and score 18 of LaSalle’s final 23 points. The senior guard, who finished with 29 points, did not want to go home. The Explorers cut the lead to 73-70 after a Deuce Jones three with four seconds to go, but St. Joe’s Xzayvier Brown, who finished with a team-high 21 points, hit two free throws to ice the game, and the Hawks escaped.
The 76-year-old Dunphy, the winningest coach in Big 5 history, had a fantastic career. It’s fitting that the LaSalle grad’s final game in Philly was against St. Joe’s and that his final game ever was against those same St. Joe’s Hawks.
Notes:
-St. Joe’s Anthony Finkley had 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Rasheer Fleming added 11 points and eight rebounds.
-St. Joe’s lost to Dayton in their only meeting 77-72 on January 24.
-Dunphy finishes his career 625–380 in 36 seasons as a head coach.
