La Salle 79, Morgan St. 74

Published Nov. 21, 2010 2:13 a.m. EST

foxsports

Aaric Murray had 20 points, 11 rebounds and a school-record nine blocks as La Salle held off Morgan State 79-74 on Saturday in the second game of the Cancun Challenge.

The Explorers (3-1) took a 39-22 halftime lead after shooting a blistering 59.3 percent from the field (16 of 27) compared to 27.8 percent (10 of 36) for the Bears (1-2).

Morgan State opened the second half on a 22-5 run, with Aric Brooks making a layup to tie the score at 44 with 12:48 to go. The Bears extended their lead to three points and were ahead 52-49 when the Explorers used a 14-3 run to take the lead for good.

Ruben Guillandeaux scored 16 points for La Salle and Tyreck Duren added 14.

Kevin Thompson scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds to lead Morgan State and Justin Black had 20 points.

La Salle will play Providence, and Morgan State will play Western Illinois in Cancun on Tuesday.