NEW YORK -- Jordan Price scored 28 points and Khalid Lewis made a key 3 with 1:28 left to give La Salle a 76-69 victory against Massachusetts in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Thursday.
The ninth-seeded Explorers (17-15) avoided a three-game sweep by UMass (17-15) this season and advanced to face top-seeded Davidson on Friday in the quarterfinals.
"We are obviously thrilled," La Salle head coach Dr. John Giannini. "We beat a team that is a very good team and one that's hard for us to match up with. Their physicality is not easy to play against."
Donte Clark led UMass with 23 points and Cady Lalanne had 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Steve Zack made a short hook to put La Salle up 62-58 with 3:30 left in the second half, but Clark's 3 drew UMass to within one with two minutes remaining.
With the shot clock winding down, Lewis turned and fired a 3 from the corner to put La Salle up 69-63.
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Price helped seal the win with five free throws in the final 1:04. Zack had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
"Getting stops, just multiple stops in a row," Price said about what turned the game around for La Salle. "That's what we basically focused on, is if we can get three stops in a row or more, that's good for us. You know defense leads the offense and that's what happened tonight for us."