Welcome Back To College Basketball La Salle Explorers

By Trevor Lowry
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The La Salle Explorers had a huge season in college basketball this year. So, why don’t we welcome them back to the sport by recapping their year.

Since La Salle has been in college basketball for some time now, we really should just be welcoming it back to the NCAA Tournament, but come on, La Salle has not been the most relevant team in basketball for the last like 20 years or so.

This season marked the first time that the Explorers had made the Big Dance since 1992. That was a drought that needed more than just some water.

On the season, the Explorers were able to beat Villanova, Butler and VCU. At the time, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 9 and the Rams were ranked No. 19. Not to mention, those victories came in back-to-back games. Those were not the only quality wins on the season, just a couple of the bigger victories.

La Salle ended up with an overall record of 24-10 and finished 11-5 in the Atlantic 10, which put them two games back from first place in the standings.

This team then entered the 2013 NCAA Tournament–finally–as a No. 12 seed and had to play Boise State just to make it into the field of 64. Well, the Explorers won and they would then go on to beat No. 5 Kansas State and No. 13 Ole Miss.

It was amazing that La Salle was able to make the Sweet 16, since it had not made the dance in what seemed like forever. For its great play in the tourney, the Explorers were ranked No. 24 in the final rankings of the season.

Although the Explorers would probably have liked to go further in the dance, what a year it was for them.

 

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