Jerrell Williams tied his career high with 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as La Salle defeated Prairie View A&M 88-74 Thursday night in their Cancun Challenge opener.
The Explorers (2-1) used a strong second half to pull away from the Panthers (1-3) in the first meeting between the schools.
Aaric Murray scored 19 points while hitting all 11 of his foul shots and Ruben Guillandeaux added 17 points for La Salle.
The Explorers led by as many as seven in the first half, but Prairie View A&M closed to 35-34 with 1:27 to go until the break.
La Salle took a 39-35 lead into halftime and the Panthers could get no closer than three after that. The Explorers shot 50 percent from the field (15 of 30) in the second half compared to 31.6 (12 of 38) for Prairie View A&M.
Trant Simpson scored 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting for the Panthers.
