Powell leads La Salle comeback, top Richmond 66-58

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Pookie Powell scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half when La Salle battled from nine points down three times and defeated Richmond 66-58 Saturday night.

La Salle (6-14, 4-4 Atlantic 10) pulled even with Richmond at 53-53 on Powell's wide-open 3 from the left wing, took the lead on an Isiah Deas free throw and an Ed Crosswell drive and never looked back. Deas scored 13 and Crosswell nine with a career-best 16 rebounds.

Saul Phiri also scored 13 for the Explorers, 11 in the second half.

La Salle was 11 of 21 at the foul line but Richmond was unable to gain ground, missing 10 of its last 11 field-goal attempts, the drought lasting more than five minutes. The Spiders took all their last five shots from behind the 3-point arc and four were airballs.

The Explorers made 6 of 8 from the line while Richmond had consecutive disorganized possessions, Grant Golden air-balling a 3 as the shot clock expired and Jacob Gilyard launching an airball from 27 feet immediately after a timeout.

Gilyard scored 20 to lead Richmond (8-15, 2-7).