La Salle Sees First Season Under Darris Nichols Come to End in Opening Round Loss to St. Bonaventure

PITTSBURGH — The opening matchup of the Atlantic-10 Tournament featured one coach at the beginning of his coaching career and one at the end of his own.

When the final buzzer sounded in No. 13 St. Bonaventure’s 99-80 win over No. 12 La Salle, Bonnies’ head coach Mark Schimdt met Explorers’ head coach Darris Nichols on the handshake line and shared some words for the first-year coach.

But what Nichols took away from Schmidt did not come from their brief conversation on the floor of PPG Paints Arena. Rather, it came from his years of admiring the longtime coach from afar as he hopes that one day, somewhere down the line, he can be talked about in the same light that many in the college basketball world speak about Schmidt.

“He just said that ‘I am pulling for you,'” Nichols said about his interaction with Mark Schmidt after the game. “There is a lot of people in the business who you know and respect. He is one of those guys that I know a lot of his former players so I’ve learned to respect him by hearing their stories. … With him, the success that he has had and who he is as a person is something that 19 years from now, I want my, our guys to say the same thing [about me].”

Bumps in the Road

The Explorers’ season did not go as planned, with La Salle winning just nine games and bouncing out of the conference tournament in the first round despite holding a higher seed. That is not an indication on the job done by Nichols and his staff as the program battled through adversity all season long, including many season-ending injuries to key players.

Neither Nichols nor his staff, will use that as an excuse. Rather, they will use this first season as a stepping stone to advance the program up the charts in the Atlantic-1o in the seasons to come.

“As a staff, if we want our guys to be this, then we have to be this,” Nichols said. “If we don’t want our guys to make excuses then as a staff we can’t make excuses. That’s kind of how we went through the season with all of the different things that we’ve been dealt.”

One of the most important things that Nichols learned this season as his team never quit or wavered despite the injuries and losses was the ability to adapt to any situation thrown at them.

“It’s like life, there’s a lot of things that are going to be thrown you way so it’s about how you respond to it,” Nichols continued. “There’s going to be adverse situations in everything you do.”

Scoring in Bunches

Action started quick as both teams scored 10 each over the first four minutes of the game. La Salle took a small 14-13 lead shortly after the first media break thanks to a strong start from sophomore Rob Dockery, who scored 13 of the Explorers’ first 17 points.

Shortly after a layup from Josiah Harris gave the Explorers the one-point lead, St. Bonaventure’s offense started to streak as the Bonnies opened up the first of three long first-half scoring runs. By the end of the initial 9-0 run, the Bonnies led 22-14. Their lead extended to 36-27 minutes later due to a separate 8-1 scoring stretch.

Dockery tried to will the Explorers back into the game — and did momentarily — when he added two straight finishes at the rim, bringing his team back to within five at 38-33. That would be the last points for La Salle in the half as the Explorers ended on a 3:46 scoring drought; the Bonnies scored 10 straight, taking a 48-33 lead into halftime.

Bonnies Pile On

La Salle opened the second half up with just its second made three of the game. drawing back  within 12 of St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies immediately matched with a three of their own. That was the story of the second half.

The Explorers started the half 2-of-10 from the field. While they started to find much better success scoring the basketball as the half continued, the Bonnies never slowed down.

During the Explorers’ slow start the Bonnies scored seven straight points and saw their lead grow to 78-55 midway though the second half. That all but spelled the end for La Salle’s tournament run and season.

Despite Dockery’s excellent 33-point effort for the Explorers, it took too long for any other La Salle player to find a stride.

Couple that with the Explorers’ inability to slow down the Bonnies’ offense that shot 57 percent from the field for the game, including 54 percent from three-point range, and it makes sense as to why the score ended up as lopsided as it did.

Stick with Philadelphia Sports Now throughout the offseason for all La Salle men’s basketball news and updates.