1979–80 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1979–80 La Salle Explorers men's basketball
ECC tournament champion
NCAA Division I tournament, First round
Conference	East Coast Conference
Record	22–9 (7–4 ECC)
Head coach	Lefty Ervin (1st season)
Home arena	Convention Hall
Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 ECC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Saint Joseph's	10	–	1	.909	21	–	9	.700
Temple	8	–	3	.727	14	–	12	.538
La Salle †	7	–	4	.636	22	–	9	.710
Hofstra	6	–	5	.545	14	–	14	.500
American	5	–	6	.455	13	–	14	.481
Drexel	4	–	7	.364	12	–	15	.444
West
Lafayette	13	–	3	.813	21	–	8	.724
Bucknell	13	–	3	.813	20	–	7	.741
Delaware	7	–	9	.438	9	–	19	.321
Rider	5	–	11	.313	10	–	18	.357
Lehigh	2	–	14	.125	5	–	20	.200
West Chester	1	–	15	.063	3	–	23	.115

† 1980 ECC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1979–89 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team represented La Salle University as a member of the East Coast Conference during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Lefty Ervin and played their home games at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After finishing third in the ECC East division standings, the Explorers won the ECC tournament to receive a bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 11 seed in the Mideast region, La Salle lost to No. 6 seed eventual Final Four participant Purdue in the opening round. The team finished with a record of 22–9 (7–4 ECC).

Roster

1979–80 La Salle Explorers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	32	Michael Brooks	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr		Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
C	54	Tom Piotrowski	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	So	Great Valley	West Chester, Pennsylvania

Head coach

Lefty Ervin

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 3, 1979*		at Alabama	W 82–80	1–0	Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Dec 5, 1979*		at Bucknell	L 79–80	1–1	Davis Gym Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Dec 8, 1979*		Villanova	L 79–86	1–2	Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 11, 1979*		Rider	W 102–59	2–2	Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 14, 1979*		vs. Texas A&M	W 72–67	3–2	Marriott Center Provo, Utah
Dec 15, 1979*		at No. 18 BYU	L 106–108	3–3	Marriott Center Provo, Utah
ECC Tournament
Feb 25, 1980*		Drexel First round	W 87–76	19–8	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 28, 1980*		at Temple Quarterfinals	W 70–62	20–8	McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 29, 1980*		vs. Lafayette Semifinals	W 70–62	21–8	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 1, 1980*		vs. Saint Joseph's Championship game	W 59–49	22–8	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NCAA Tournament
Mar 6, 1980*	(11 ME)	vs. (6 ME) No. 20 Purdue First round	L 82–90	22–9	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

^[2]

References

^ "La Salle 1979-80" (PDF). La Salle University. p. 2. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
^ "La Salle Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). La Salle Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2023.

v t e La Salle Explorers men's basketball
Venues	Wister Hall (19??–1955) Palestra (1955–1989) Civic Center (1989–1996) First Union Spectrum (1996–1998) Tom Gola Arena (1998–present) TruMark Financial Center (facilities)
Culture & lore	"Fight On, Explorers" City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) Scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics