The Butler Bulldogs got some revenge Friday afternoon by beating the La Salle Explorers, 69-58, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
2013 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament: Butler tops La Salle, 69-58
Butler won its second game in as many days, as Rotnei Clarke had 14 points and Khyle Marshall scored 13 more in the Bulldogs’ quarterfinal win over La Salle.
Mike Lawrie
La Salle dealt the Bulldogs a crushing 58-57 loss on Jan. 23 on a Ramon Galloway layup with three seconds to go.
The Explorers battled on Friday, but Butler led from start to finish, cruising behind a 14-point performance from Rotnei Clarke and 13 more from Khyle Marshall. Though Clarke led the team in scoring, it did not come easily. The 42 percent three point shooter was just 2-for-9 from beyond the arc and 6--for-16 from the field overall.
Tyreek Duren had 19 points to lead La Salle and Jerrell Wright was a force inside, totaling 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Butler lead was just six with under ten minutes left, but the Bulldogs hit their free throws and their guards found lanes to the basket to stay in control.
La Salle threatened again and cut Butler's lead to six on a three from Sam Mills with 5:08 left, but Clarke answered with just his second three of the game. A minute later, Roosevelt Jones hit a jumper to push the Butler lead to double digits and put the Explorers away.
With the win, Butler advances to face No. 1 seed Saint Louis in Saturday’s semifinals at 1:30 p.m. The Explorers now have a long 48 hours ahead of them as they sit squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and await word on whether or not they will make the Big Dance.
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