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The La Salle Exlplorers showed they want to contend in this year's Big Five and A-10 with a surprising overtime win over Villanova on Sunday.
It's been a rough couple of decades for La Salle basketball: they haven't won an outright city title since 1990, and haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1992. They weren't expected to contend for either this year either, but their 77-74 win over Villanova might be a sign they can. Tyreek Duren and Ramon Galloway both cleared 20 points, with Duren knocking in a game-tying three and then tallying seven points in the overtime sessions. The pair lead the team with 15.5 and 15.3 points, respectively. The game was the first between any Big 5 squads on the year, although Penn already dropped a game to Drexel in a City 6 matchup.
In their other games, the Explorers have looked good against Delaware, who eventually made the finals of the Preseason NIT tournament, and Hartford, while dropping a game to Central Connecticut. The Explorers head up the road Thursday night to Lawrenceville, N.J. to face the 4-3 Rider Broncs before "hosting" Penn State at the Palestra on Dec. 5.