GAME NOTES: The George Washington Colonials look to extend their six-game winning streak as they take on their Atlantic 10 Conference rival La Salle Explorers at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday.

George Washington defeated Saint Louis, 75-72, on Tuesday to keep its winning streak going, which includes decisions over Colorado and Wichita State, while improving to 2-0 in Atlantic 10 play. Coach Mike Lonergan's team visited Philadelphia last week and went home with a 64-60 win over Saint Joseph's. The Colonials have arrived at their impressive 12-3 overall record due to tremendous play at the defensive end, where they have allowed just 58.9 ppg to rank second in the conference in scoring defense. George Washington is ranked in the middle of the A-10 pack offensively with 70.1 ppg.

La Salle is still in search of its first A-10 win after suffering setbacks to George Mason (70-62) and Massachusetts (71-65) in its opening two games of the New Year. The Explorers were outscored, 18-6, from beyond the arc by the Minutemen. Amar Stukes made his first career start and responded well, netting a season-high 13 points on 6-of-7 efficiency from the floor. Coach John Giannini's team is just 4-3 at Tom Gola Arena this season. La Salle is ranked 10th in the A-10 in scoring offense (65.3 ppg) and sixth in scoring defense (63.5 ppg)

Although the Explorers have won five of their last six games against George Washington, the Colonials still own a 21-15 all-time series lead. La Salle earned a 76-72 decision when these schools met in Philadelphia last season.

In the win over the Billikens, five Colonials finished in double figures in the scoring column. Patricio Garino led the way with 18 points, six boards and three assists, while Kevin Larsen (16 points), Kethan Savage (12) and Joe McDonald (11) also reached double digits. Freshman Yuta Watanabe had his fifth straight double-digit outing with 10 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Savage (13.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.5 apg), Larsen (12.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.2 apg) and Garino (11.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg) have been a nearly impossible triple-threat to contain during the Colonials' current streak, with Watanabe providing a key spark off the bench (9.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 22.7 mpg).

The Explorers have a new leader on the floor in Auburn transfer Jordan Price, who leads La Salle and ranks third in the A-10 in scoring at 17.1 points per game, but has missed all 10 of his three-point attempts to average 7.0 points on 24 percent shooting over his first two conference games. Senior forwards Jerrell Wright (11.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and Steve Zack (9.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg) star up front in the team's frontcourt with a combined 20.8 points and 15.8 rebounds per game. Wright is looking to bounce back after going 1-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-7 at the charity stripe in the loss to UMass. Price and Cleon Roberts also struggled, combining to hit on just 10-of-27 shots from the field. Price leads the A-10 in free throw attempts (85) and is also fourth in free-throw percentage (.835).

La Salle is just one game above the .500 mark, but it has endured a very difficult schedule to this point. George Washington is one of the hottest teams in the nation currently, but the Explorers' desperation for a win after a pair of tough losses could result in an upset.