Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
La Salle
Men's Basketball Falls To La Salle, 62-44
12/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2000
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Rasual Butler scored 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead La Salle to a 62-44 victory over Northwestern in men's basketball action on Sunday.
Butler went nine-for-nine from the field before missing his last two shots, as the Explorers (4-3) overpowered the Wildcats (3-3).
Northwestern fell behind early on, 14-5, but used a 7-0 run spanning two minutes to make the score 14-12 midway through the first half. The team then traded points for the rest of the half, before the Explorers reeled off the final six points to take a 27-21 lead into the break.
Northwestern soon closed the gap to 28-25 on a jumper by Ben Johnson and a tip-in by Tavaras Hardy after a Victor Thomas free-throw attempt. Northwestern kept it close for several minutes after that via the 3-point route, as a pair by Winston Blake and another by Ed McCants made the score 40-36 in La Salle's favor with 12 minutes to play.
But the Explorers then reeled off nine of the next 11 points and never looked back, taking a 51-41 lead with five minutes to play and then holding the Wildcats to just one field goal the rest of the way.
Thomas added 13 and Julian Blanks 10 for La Salle.
For the Wildcats, Blake finished with 15 points -- all on treys -- and Johnson added 11.
Northwestern is back in action Wednesday night, hosting St. Peter's at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tipoff time is 7 p.m.
