Davidson Wildcats’ Atlantic 10 title hopes take a hit at La Salle

Davidson’s hopes for an Atlantic 10 regular-season championship took a significant hit Wednesday in a 79-69 loss against La Salle in Philadelphia.

The defeat drops the Wildcats (20-8, 11-4) two games behind league-leader Virginia Commonwealth with three games remaining. Although Davidson remains in a second-place tie with Dayton, what was once a solid shot at a double-bye in the conference tournament in two weeks in Brooklyn, N.Y., now could be in jeopardy with George Mason, Duquesne and St. Bonaventure one game behind in the loss column.

La Salle (9-18, 7-8), which was without three injured players (including leading scorer Pookie Powell) took control of the game midway through the first half. The key stretch of the game came late in the half after the Explorers had taken a 30-18 lead. The Wildcats scored 11 consecutive points to trim the deficit to one, but the Explorers reeled off eight straight to end the half with a 38-29 advantage.

The Wildcats trailed 70-53 at one point and couldn’t get to within seven points the rest of the way.

Sophomore guard Kellan Grady led the Wildcats with 21 points. Junior guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson added 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. La Salle got 25 points from guard Isiah Deas and 24 from guard Traci Carter.

Davidson’s next game is Saturday against Fordham at Belk Arena. La Salle is at Philadelphia-rival Saint Joseph’s on Friday.

This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 9:33 PM.