Villanova 74, La Salle 71
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Ricky Wright scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds and Allan Ray had 19 points as Villanova outlasted La Salle 74-71 on Saturday.
Jason Fraser had 11 points and Gary Buchanan had 10 points and six assists for Villanova (4-2).
Gary Neal scored 21 points and Jermaine Thomas had 19 points and eight assists for La Salle (3-2).
Villanova led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a 56-42 lead with 13:01 left in the game. Neal then scored the last 10 points of a 24-10 La Salle run that tied the score at 66 with 1:58 to play.
Layups by Ray and Fraser helped Villanova build a 73-68 edge but David Bell’s foul shot and rebound basket by Mike Cleaves made it 73-71 with six seconds remaining.
After Ray made one of two foul shots with 5.6 left, Neal’s difficult 3-point attempt from the corner at the buzzer fell short.