Davidson beats LaSalle to reach 3rd round in A-10 tourney

NEW YORK (AP) Peyton Aldridge scored 27 points and Davidson moved into the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament with a 78-63 victory over LaSalle on Thursday night.

The sixth-seeded Wildcats (19-11) led comfortably most of the second half and will face third-seeded St. Bonaventure on Friday.

Aldridge scored 17 first-half points as Davidson led by 12 at the break. Brian Sullivan finished with 15 points while Jack Gibbs, the conference's leading scorer during the regular season, was held to nine.

Jordan Price, who scored 36 Wednesday against Duquesne, had 23 points on 5-of-22 shooting for the 14th-seeded Explorers (9-22). Tony Washington added 16 with 13 rebounds.

Davidson pulled away after missing its first nine shots of the second half. The Wildcats scored their first points of the half on 3-pointer by Aldridge with 13:40 left. LaSalle got it under double digits a few minutes later but baskets by Gibbs and Andrew McAuliffe started an 11-1 run and Davidson led by double digits the rest of the way.