Jan 22, 2003

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Gary Neal scored 19 points and La Salle used scoring bursts in each half to defeat Massachusetts 78-57 Wednesday night.

Steve Smith, hitting on 7-of-11 shots, added 17 points for La Salle (8-3, 2-3 Atlantic 10), which starts four freshmen and a sophomore.

Anthony Anderson had 13 points and Marcus Cox had 11 for UMass (6-11, 0-5), which has lost four in a row and is off to its worst conference record since starting 0-6 in 1988-89.

The Explorers, now 7-1 at home, had a 16-3 run midway through the first half to take 23-13 lead. Led by Neal's 14 points in the half, they held a 39-31 edge at halftime.

An 8-1 spurt at the start of the second half allowed the Minutemen to close 41-39. However, Smith hit a 3-pointer, igniting a 21-5 run that gave the Explorers a 62-44 lead at the 7:46 mark.

La Salle has now won two in a row over UMass but still trails 9-3 in the all-time series.