Dec. 4, 1999

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University pulled away from Southwest Texas State in the second half for a 76-52 victory this afternoon in a non-conference men's basketball game before 11,704 at Kiel Center. The Bills' backcourt duo of Justin Love and Marque Perry combined for 29 points as Saint Louis snapped a two-game losing streak.

"When you look at good teams around the country, they always have a guy that they can lean on, and Justin Love has done that for us," Billikens first-year head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "The great thing about Justin is that when he is playing with intensity, he'll go get eight or nine rebounds for you. Justin has the ability to carry us on his back."

Love finished with 16 points on 50 percent shooting from the field after his 31-point explosion at Kansas State on Wedneday. Perry drilled 9-of-9 free throws and was the only other Billiken in double figures with 13 points.

Saint Louis started sluggishly as the Bobcats led by as many as four early in the game and still led 14-13 with 11:39 remaining in the first half. The Billikens took the lead for good on a Matt Baniak lay-up and slowly built their margin to 37-25 at the half. Junior forward Maurice Jeffers contributed six of his eight points in the first half. Jeffers finished with career highs in rebounds with seven and assists with six.

"We needed to put the loss at Kansas State on Wednesday night behind us and move on," Jeffers said. "We did that this afternoon."

The Billikens' defense held the 'Cats to only 14 points in the first 13 minutes of the second half as Saint Louis' lead grew to 65-39. Saint Louis forced SWT into 21 turnovers and out-rebounded the 'Cats 38-29.

Back-up point guard Dave Fergerson had a solid game off the bench with five points and five rebounds after a shaky outing at K-State. "With any system that you're playing, you're hopefully going to continue to learn and get better," he said. "As a team, we are going to get better as the season progresses."

Forward Jason Blair topped the Bobcats with 17 points and eight rebounds, while guard Wesley Williams contributed 10 points. SWT dropped to 2-2 on the season.

Saint Louis (4-2) takes the week off for fall semester final exams before hosting intra-state rival Missouri at the Trans World Dome on Sun., Dec. 12.