Minutemen fall in Philly vs. LaSalle

PHILADELPHIA (WWLP) - The UMass basketball team suffered a 72-51 loss at La Salle on Sunday at Tom Gola Arena. Raphiael Putney led UMass with nine points. The Explorers had four players in double-figures headed up by Aaric Murray's 16. Jerrell Williams had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds while Earl Pettis also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. UMass hosts No. 24 Temple on Wednesday at the Mullins Center.

UMass now stands at 15-11 overall and 7-7 in the A-10. La Salle is 13-16, 5-9 in the league.

The Minutemen feel behind by as many as 24 in the first half and trailed 48-25 at halftime. UMass rallied to cut the lead to 14 early in the second half, 48-34, as Gary Correia hit a pair of 3-pointers and Anthony Gurley made a trey for a 9-0 run, but La Salle answered quickly and went on a 23-6 run to seal the game. The Explorers led by as many as 31 at 71-40 with 3:55 left in the game as Williams hit a jumper. The Explorers had an 11-0 run in the second half despite shooting just 22 percent in the final 20 minutes.

The one bright spot came in the final seconds as walk-on freshman Jordan Couture hit two free throws for the first points of his career.

Steve Weingarten also grabbed 10 rebounds for La Salle, which posted a 57-33 rebounding edge.

UMass shot just 29.8 from the floor and 25.9 from 3-pointers.

UMass looks to get back on the winning side on Wednesday as No. 24 Temple comes to UMass for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Senior Night.