La Salle

PHILADELPHIA -- Forget the final six minutes and the final score and remember that Loyola College is rebuilding from a 4-24 season.From that perspective, Loyola's 75-68 loss to La Salle last night was another sign that the Greyhounds at least are headed in the right direction."

Loyola's biggest crowd of the season, including National Basketball Association scouts, came to Reitz Arena to look at La Salle guard Doug Overton, but backcourt mate Randy Woods gave them a brief look at what's to follow next season.Woods, a 6-foot junior, scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Explorers -- who had a 27-point lead in the first half -- hold off a late Loyola rally for a 94-84 win before 2,219.That's not to say Overton had a bad night. The 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard did nothing to discourage the scouts, as he scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds in helping the Explorers (9-3 overall, 3-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play)

The latest game of conference musical chairs will have a considerable impact on Loyola College.The Greyhounds are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which today lost its most visible member, La Salle, to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Pittsburgh Press, meanwhile, reported that Duquesne would also be joining the MCC, ending its association with the Atlantic 10 Conference.Loyola athletic director Joe Boylan attended expansion meetings this summer with officials from the MCC, whose current members include Xavier, Dayton, Evansville, Loyola of Chicago and Butler.

PHILADELPHIA -- The table was set for Loyola College to post its biggest basketball victory in several years last night, but the Greyhounds left untouched an opportunity to upset La Salle.The NBA draft, preseason turmoil, sick call and even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were on Loyola's side at the Philadelphia Civic Center, but La Salle had too much Doug Overton and pulled away for a 75-68 victory over the Greyhounds.La Salle (1-0) is favored to win its fourth straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

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.

EMMITSBURG -- When a man has coached in more than 1,000 basketball games, it's understandable if some of them run together. A victory here, a loss there. Who can keep track?For Mount St. Mary's Jim Phelan, No. 1,107 last night won't be forgotten. This one was a keeper, one game carved out of a 41-year career that will forever stand out.For the first time, Phelan directed a team against his alma mater, La Salle, where he starred as a player from 1948 to 1951.What won't be remembered fondly is the outcome, a 68-65 loss to the Explorers at Knott Arena that became official when Riley Inge's three-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim.The memories came rushing back to Phelan in the days leading up to the game, but not as he sat on the Mountaineers' bench in his trademark bow tie. Then, he was all business, trying to find a way to snap a three-game losing streak.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Two years ago, John Leahy signed a letter of intent to play for Maryland, but probation for the Terrapins sent the 6-foot-7 forward to Seton Hall. Never were the Pirates more grateful for his services than yesterday.Leahy's three-point shooting helped Seton Hall overcome an eight-point deficit with four minutes left, and put Terry Dehere in position to hit an 18-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining in the Pirates' 76-74 win over La Salle before a sellout crowd at Greensboro Coliseum.

COLLEGE PARK -- After feasting a couple of times before Christmas, the Maryland basketball team will try to satisfy a different type of hunger tonight: the feeling that comes from beating a legitimate Division I team.After their record-setting 66-point victory Friday night over Morgan State, which came 10 days after their 53-point romp over Towson State, the ninth-ranked Terrapins (8-2) play host to La Salle (5-1) in an 8 p.m. game at Cole Field House."It'll be tough," Maryland coach Gary Williams said yesterday before practice.

The Morgan State women's basketball team - led by Corin Adams with 20 points - held off a late rally by visiting La Salle to win, 71-70, last night. The Explorers (4-4) set a school record for most three-pointers in a game with 13 and were down by 13 points with less than two minutes to go. Morgan Robertson led La Salle with a double double (16 points, 13 rebounds), and Margaret Elderton matched her 16 points and added five assists and three steals. The Explorers used a pair of 9-0 runs through the game's first eight minutes to take their largest lead of the first half at 10. La Salle led 32-27 before the Bears (6-1)