Explorers Are Frequently Lost: Brantley Salvages My Salvation, Season

written by Sam

 

PHILADELPHIA (Mt. Airy)—The highs and lows of sport sometimes come in quick, successive bursts. My self-worth shouldn't be so intertwined with something so random as the binary of La Salle winning or losing. At the end of most seasons, I know in my heart they won't come out on top. So why do I get hung up on every defeat?

There's a running joke in the movie Brittany Runs a Marathon where a character wonders why someone would run a race with no chance of winning. That premise (though moronic) has a fatalistic bent it it. As a La Salle basketball fan, I must find joy in the journey, otherwise the pursuit is pointless. Running the race (or watching children do it) must be worthwhile on its own.

Going into Saturday afternoon, however, I was missing the forest for the trees. This column was largely to going focus on how devastated I felt after La Salle's 106-99 TRIPLE OVERTIME loss Nov. 29 to the hated Temple Owls (4-3). I intended to opine on missed opportunities and how personally offended and physically ill the L left me.

Woebegone ideas danced round my head. Like how pathetic it was to lose when Jhamir Brickus set the Big 5 [sic] individual game scoring record with 41 points. Or bemoan that the Explorers were so close to a seat in the Big 5 Championship game with our own little Cinderella story that paired excellently with St. Joe's (Pa.) upsetting Villanova that same night. No, we're the hapless Explos, with Khalil Brantley missing two free throws to ice it, and Fran Dunphy opting against fouling when up three points. I was resigned to crying into my blue-and-gold towel, while the Hawks and Owls played for the title. 

But then Brantley hit the ultimate redemption shot Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center that made me, if not forget about losing the title, feel as content one can be winning a third-place game.

. . . 

To watch sports, it helps to have stakes. Greater context, a fun narrative elevate a November game between mediocre teams clubs in a city where collegiate basketball rivalries are on life support. 

I've decried the lack of interest for La Salle basketball, but outside fucking Villanova, all the clubs are in a tailspin of mediocrity. For the first time ever, no Big 5 team made the NCAA men's tournament last year; attendance has been down; and the intra-city games weren't earning the fans or players' interest. 

Mercifully, the schools went back to the drawing board, and this year debuted a new format for the city tournament. Drexel, long the outsiders, was welcome into the Big 5. The six teams were divided into two pods (La Salle-Temple-Drexel; Villanova-Penn-St. Joe's), and each team would play the other two per pod. The competition would culminate in a triple-hitter at the Wells Fargo Center on Dec. 2 based on the results of pod play. Not since Steve Jobs introduced his mp3 player has the word "pod" received so much attention.

The small amount of games raised the stakes and really breathed life into the competition. Drexel and La Salle, for example, usually play against each other, but seldom do Dragon fans trek out to North Philly. Now part of the Big 5 Classic, the game mattered, fans traveled, and the Tom Gola Arena rocked a bit.

That seemed to happen throughout the City (and fucking Villanova), as some great games went down in the ramp up. Both Penn and St. Joe's beat Nova, and the Owls-Explorers' triple OT game became an instant classic. The pod play resulted in Villanova-Drexel for fifth; La Salle-Penn for third; and Temple-St. Joe's in the final.

Now, I was still licking my wounds Saturday and opted against attending in person. Tickets were kind of expensive, I had other plans, and I was too butt-hurt to muster up the energy for a third-place game after a heart-breaking loss. Instead, I attended a surreal 40th birthday party/roast at the Franklin Institute, and missed out on La Salle's seminal moment of the season.

The day kicked off with a win for everyone. Drexel upset Villanova, and the 18th-ranked (though I bet not for long) Wildcats finished sixth in the Big 5; that's last, motherfuckers. All three teams beat them. I wouldn't be surprised if our friends from the Main Line advocate for changing the rules next year so as to further game the system in their favor. But for one day, those shit bags were the loser of all losers, and all was right in the world.

The middle-game was the showcase for me. The Quakers came in with the Nova win under their belt, and were being propelled by excellent freshman (and son of the former Sixers coach) Sam Brown. And it was an awesome game, regardless of result... it helped that La Salle won, though.

Unlike the Temple game where both teams sucked and it was an ugly rock fight, the Penn-La Salle match-up exhibited some beautiful basketball: consistent shooting, great pressure D, and sick slams. It was a back-and-forth affair, with 14 lead changes, and many chances for either team to win. Penn (5-4) couldn't put La Salle (6-2) away in regulation, and the Explorers faced their fourth overtime period of the week.

OT continued much the same. Fun, energetic, back-and-forth basketball left it tied leading up to the final moments. Penn leading scorer Clark Slajchert (33 points) nailed a gritty layup, and Penn was primed for the win. 

But Brantley salvaged the whole tournament (and maybe the season?) for La Salle with an improbably deep three for victory. He spoke after on how his free-throw misses against Temple Wednesday weighed on him going into the weekend. 

On the big stage Saturday, he inbounded the ball, quickly got it back, and furiously dribbled over half-court—all within four seconds. He hoisted up the prayer of all prayers, and La Salle went from losers to winners in a second. 

Brantley and his teammates goofily galloped around an NBA arena. Penn cheerleaders cried. And the Big 5 could exalt the tournament for elevating this otherwise meaningless early season game. 

This moment at redemption for Brantley, La Salle, and me(!) was made more meaningful by the Temple choke. Darkest before the dawn and all that. You don't get the satisfying reunion in the rom-com, without the protagonist royally screwing it up first. Brantley, who also missed 19 shots and committed 5 turnovers against Temple, responded with a way more efficient 24 points and 4 made three-pointers on Saturday. Obviously, none more sweeter than the game winner.

In the end, this hero's journey ended about as good as could be expected. Sure, winning the Big 5 would have been the best result, but this probably is better than taking silver. Let's say La Salle won the Temple game, and lost to St. Joe's in the finals (like Temple did on Saturday). Would losing and finishing second feel better than winning third-place on the most memorable play in team history since the Southwest Philly Floater in 2013?

My life isn't better because La Salle won Saturday. But my smile today may beam a little brighter.

"Explorers Are Frequently Lost" strives to be a weekly column about the La Salle's Men's Basketball Team, but I hope is about other stuff, too.