BOX SCORE
La Salles terrific guard trio of Tyreek Duren, Ramon Galloway and Tyrone Garland combined for 49 points to lead the Explorers to a 74-57 Big 5 rout of Penn on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena.
The Explorers, who also got 10 points and 11 rebounds inside from Jerrell Wright, improved to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big 5 with the win.
The Quakers (2-11 overall, 0-2 Big 5), who were playing without leading scorer Fran Dougherty (mono) for the third consecutive game, have now lost six straight. They got a team-high 14 points from freshman guard Tony Hicks.
Inside the box score
Penns problems holding on to the ball continued with the Quakers committing 21 turnovers.
Penn, which has also struggled rebounding the basketball, outrebounded La Salle by a 43-36 margin.
Duren scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, while Garland scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half.
News
First half
Spurred by a 12-0 run near the end of the first half, La Salle went into the locker room with a comfortable 36-26 advantage.
The Explorers got 13 first-half points from Garland and used an effective press to force the Quakers into 15 turnovers.
Penn shot nearly 40 percent from the floor before the break and outrebounded the Explorers by eight but were doomed by the giveaways.
Hello again, Graven
La Salle redshirt senior Garvin Hunt played his freshman season at Penn back in 2008-09. He did not play again for the Quakers, before graduating from Penn last May and then coming to La Salle to use his final year of eligibility.
In Saturdays game, Hunt had two points and three rebounds in just five minutes. His putback basket midway through the first half actually put the Explorers ahead for good.
Home dominance
La Salle has now won 21 of its last 25 games at Tom Gola Arena and 14 of its last 15 non-conference regular season games at its home gym.
The series
Penn leads the all-time series, 38-28, but La Salle has won the last six games.
Last time out
Despite leading by six at halftime, La Salle dropped a 76-59 decision to Miami on Saturday. On the same day, Penn hung with nationally ranked Butler on the road before falling, 70-57.
Whats next?
La Salle opens Atlantic 10 play with a road game at Charlotte on Wednesday. Penn hosts Lafayette on Tuesday before playing its first Ivy League game at Princeton on Saturday.
Dave Zeitlin covers college sports for CSNPhilly.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @DaveZeitlin.