WASHINGTON - GW men's basketball begins the Atlantic 10 Championship in the First Round on Tuesday afternoon, taking on No. 10 seed La Salle. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.

A win on Tuesday would advance the Revolutionaries to the second round vs. No. 7 seed St. Bonaventure on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

STRETCHING THE DEFENSE
Babatunde Akingbola ranks sixth in the nation with 83 total blocks and seventh with 2.68 blocks per game, both flirting with all-time GW records. Akingbola broke the GW single-game record with 11 rejections vs. Navy on Dec. 5, surpassing Kevin Hall, who held the mark since blocking 10 shots in 1976. A grad transfer from Auburn, Akingbola need just one more rejection to tie the GW single-season record, currently set at 84 by fellow Nigerian Yinka Dare in 1992-93.

As a team, GW is 26th nationally with 4.6 blocks per game. GW has accrued the third-most blocks in a single season with 151. The all-time mark is 163 set during the 2017-18 campaign. 

MOST 3-POINTERS IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The Buff & Blue knocked down seven 3-pointers on Saturday at Duquesne to set a new program record with 277 made triples in 31 games this season. GW has made 49 more than last season in one fewer game and surpassed the previous program record of 276, held by the 2016-17 team in 35 games.

GW has made double digit threes in five of the last seven contests, 54 in total. The 15 triples vs. St. Bonaventure last Wednesday were tied for the most in a game this season, and one off the program record of 16 set back in 2001.

HISTORY VS. LA SALLE
Tuesday marks the 48th matchup between GW and La Salle and the third meeting this year following a pair of Explorer victories - 80-70 at the Smith Center in January and 72-66 at Tom Gola Arena 10 days ago. In the first meeting, La Salle knocked down 10-of-19 triples in the contest while GW shot a season-worst 3-of-18 from beyond the arc. Earlier this month, GW erased a 13-point deficit to take a second-half lead, but fell late in the final game at Tom Gola Arena.

GW still owns a 27-20 edge in the series, but Tuesday marks the first postseason meeting between the teams that have both been members of the Atlantic 10 since 1995-96. La Salle has won three of the last four encounters in the last two seasons and is looking for its first winning streak of at least three games vs. GW since winning five straight from 2012-14.

A LOOK AT THE EXPLORERS
La Salle enters the A-10 Championship after a 6-12 league record, winning four of its last six games, all at home. The Explorers are led by the backcourt duo of Khalil Brantley and Jhamir Brickus, who combine to score 28.6 ppg. Brantley scored 20 while Brickus added 19 in the first matchup between the teams in January. In the second meeting, Brickus was held to nine points while Brantley had 15 points and six assists.

La Salle takes care of the ball offensively, ranking second in the league with just 9.8 turnovers per game and is the A-10's best team when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.52. Brickus (4.8 apg) and Brantley (4.3) both provide over four helpers per game and rank among the league's top five in the category.