La Salle

Two prominent La Salle University basketball players, including former Calvert Hall star Gary Neal, face sexual-assault charges in Philadelphia today after a two-week investigation into an alleged rape of a 19-year-old woman last month on the school's campus. Mike Cleaves, a sophomore guard from Paterson, N.J., turned himself into the Special Victims Unit of the Philadelphia police and has been charged with a long list of sexual offenses, including rape. According to Special Victims Unit detective Harry Young, an arrest warrant was signed last night for Neal, a sophomore guard from Aberdeen.

Brother Patrick Ellis, a member of the Christian Brothers who served as president of La Salle University and Catholic University of America, died Feb. 21 of leukemia at a Christian Brothers nursing home in Lincroft, N.J. The Baltimore native was 84. Born and raised Harry James Ellis Jr. in Baltimore, he was a graduate of Calvert Hall College High School. When he was 17, he worked in the library of The Baltimore Sun as a research clerk and won praise from H.L. Mencken, who was writing an obituary for the American novelist Theodore Dreiser in 1945.

A 19-year-old woman allegedly raped by former Calvert Hall star Gary Neal and a La Salle University basketball teammate told police she was so drunk she was throwing up into a sink when Neal forced himself on her, according to a police investigation report. In the report, the woman says Neal was the first to rape her in a dormitory at the Philadelphia school at about 1 a.m on June 24. She told investigators Michael Cleaves joined in, saying at one point: "I want to get some of that." Neal, a 6-foot-4 guard who grew up in Aberdeen, was the Explorers' leading scorer last season as a sophomore.

There are more than 80 players from Baltimore and the surrounding counties on 2013 Division I baseball rosters. Towson boasts the largest number with 14, followed by Coppin State with 10 and Maryland with nine. The season for the majority of the schools begins Feb. 15. If any players are omitted, email sports@baltimoresun.com with "Baseball" in the subject field. College Name Position High school Year Albany Ryan Stinar P North Harford Fr. Bethune-Cookman Michael Austin OF Century Fr. Coppin State Ian Arciaga INF Mt. Carmel So. Coppin State Alex Brown C Meade So. Coppin State Will Grebenstein P Meade Fr. Coppin State Paul Hawk P Meade Jr. Coppin State Zack Hawk P Meade So. Coppin State Frank Mewborn OF Randallstown Jr. Coppin State James Nadeau P St. Mary's Fr. Coppin State Nathan Pitts Jr. INF Digital Harbor Fr. Coppin State Michael Roberts P St. Mary's So. Coppin State Chris Vazquez P Arundel So. Cornell Eric Upton P Dulaney So. Delaware Michael Gillespie P Boys' Latin Fr. Delaware State Burnell Dailey OF Glen Burnie Jr. George Mason Kevin Lingerman ...

AS HER COACH, he thought he was protecting her. He thought her privacy was paramount. This was his code, and after 18 years at La Salle University, he thought it was the right way to handle his players. "She did not want any of this to become public at the time," La Salle women's basketball coach John Miller said about the player who came to him in April about allegedly being raped. "I feel a coach is also a counselor, and my players always know my door is open and if they close the door, they can rest assured I will keep things in confidence if they want them kept in confidence," he said.

COLLEGE PARK -- With the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play a week away, Maryland coach Gary Williams had to be pleased with his team's preparation after a 96-80 romp over La Salle last night before a sellout crowd of 14,500.It was only the second time in the past seven games that the ninth-ranked Terps (9-2) failed to score 100 points. But La Salle (5-2), which previously had lost only to then-eighth-ranked Arizona, was not considered a cream puff like recent nonconference foes Bucknell, Colgate, Towson State and Morgan State, who lost by an average of 50 points.

Arundel senior Jill Marano, Anne Arundel's Player of the Year in girls basketball last winter, has made a verbal commitment to play at Division I La Salle University in Philadelphia. The first-team All-Metro guard averaged 15.8 points, 5.3 assists and 4.5 steals as a junior last season to lead the Wildcats (25-2) to the Class 4A state championship. Fast to the basket as well as with good outside range, Marano shot 50.6 percent from the field and 81 percent from the line, coming up with the big play at either end. In two state tournament games, she had 36 points, 17 assists and nine steals with a 15-point, eight-assist effort in a 61-55 win in the final.

PHILADELPHIA -- Guard Silas Cheung scored 15 points to lead Mount St. Mary's past La Salle, 81-66, last night.It was the Mount's first win in the past five meetings with the Explorers, and the first since a 21-14 win in Emmitsburg on Jan. 6, 1933.The Mountaineers (1-2) played patiently throughout a low-scoring first half during which La Salle (0-6) never led.Cheung's 22-foot three-pointer at the first-half buzzer gave Mount St. Mary's a 38-22 halftime lead.The lead never dropped below 13 in the second half.

The Loyola College basketball team will begin to discover tonight just how strong it is after a season-opening victory against George Washington.Lionel Simmons, an All-American for La Salle last season, has moved to the National Basketball Association, but the Explorers still are the preseason Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference favorite.The Greyhounds face a ton of trouble when they play at the Philadelphia Civic Center."They're not as good," said Loyola coach Tom Schneider. "But they're still awfully good."

If the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference members believed Loyola College's recent surge was an aberration, they certainly are receiving a different message now.The Greyhounds turned everybody into believers last night, when they out-dueled the league's classiest team, La Salle, 62-60, at Reitz Arena and stamped themselves as a contender in next weekend's conference tournament.In a battle of defenses, Loyola (13-13, 9-6) won its fifth straight game and beat La Salle for the second time in 32 meetings and the first time since January, 1944.

Loyola guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons) scored a career-high 26 points, and Erik Etherly had 12 while matching his career high with 15 rebounds, as the Greyhounds defeated George Washington, 65-55, on Wednesday night at the Colonials' Smith Center. Down 19-17 with 6:49 to play in the first half, the Greyhounds (7-1 overall) went on a 17-0 run to go up 34-19 on a 3-pointer by Justin Drummond with 2:30 to go before halftime. Although the Colonials (4-4) scored the half's last five points, Loyola led 34-24 at the break.

Indoor soccer Blast stay perfect on season with 22-6 rout of Comets Pat Healey scored four goals and the Baltimore Blast improved to 5-0 with a 22-6 victory over the host Missouri Comets on Wednesday night. The Comets struck first three minutes into the game when Byron Alvarez knocked in a power-play goal to give Missouri an early 2-0 lead. Healey tied the game at 2 at the 5:17 mark, and the Blast dominated the remaining 54:43 as six different players scored goals and Sagu stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced.

By Kathy Orton With a starting five that boasts four players 6 feet 2 or taller, No. 18 Maryland has found success this season by exploiting its formidable frontcourt. La Salle discovered just how forward thinking the Terrapins have become in Tuesday afternoon's opening game of the Terrapin Classic at Comcast Center. Maryland's frontcourt players scored the first 24 points and created all sorts of matchup problems for the Explorers in the Terps' 83-45 win. Maryland (11-1)

Aaric Murray scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and La Salle held off Morgan State, 79-74, on Saturday in the second game of the Cancun Challenge. The Explorers (3-1) took a 39-22 halftime lead after shooting 59.3 percent from the field (16 of 27) compared with 27.8 percent (10 of 36) for the Bears (1-2). Morgan State opened the second half on a 22-5 run, with Aric Brooks making a layup to tie the score at 44 with 12:48 to go. The Bears extended their lead to three points and were ahead 52-49 when the Explorers used a 14-3 run to take the lead for good.

TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS M. bask. Central Florida@Connecticut (T) MASN 11 a.m. Sonic Classic: Oklahoma vs. UTEP ESPN2 6:30 Drexel@Kentucky ESPNU 7 Sonic Classic: La Salle vs. Okla. St. ESPN2 9 NBA Washington@Phoenix (T) CSN 11:30 a.m. Cleveland@Phoenix NBA 9 C. foot. SEC champ.: Alabama vs. Florida (T)

The following student-athletes plan to sign national letters of intent this week to accept college athletic scholarships. The early signing period, which opened Wednesday and runs through Nov. 18, includes basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball, swimming, volleyball and wrestling, among other sports. Some sports, such as football, soccer, field hockey, and track and field, have a later signing period. To report additional signings for our online recruiting database, please e-mail us at sports@baltimoresun.

Men's college soccer Two goals by Bulls help UMBC to 3-0 victory at La Salle Sophomore forward Andrew Bulls (McDonogh) scored two first-half goals, leading visiting UMBC (9-0-0) to a 3-0 victory over La Salle (3-4-1) in the Retrievers' first road game of the season. Bulls, the nation's leading scorer, netted his 11th and 12th goals of the season in the 22nd and 29th minutes, and freshman Matt Knight added a goal in the 89th minute to extend UMBC's school-record winning streak to start a season.