Nov. 13, 1999
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University held off tenacious Air Force 78-70 at the Earth Grains Classic tonight in their regular-season opener at Kiel Center. The victory made Billikens first-year head coach Lorenzo Romar successful in his debut and also provided him with a birthday present.
The Billikens used 27 points and seven assists from senior guard Justin Love in the victory. Junior forward Justin Tatum came off the bench to provide 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
"It was a great win for us tonight, because it was the first win of the season and it was coach Romar's first win," Tatum said. "We had to get things off on the right foot, and we did."
The Billikens scored the first seven points of the game and jumped to an 11-3 lead as Love and center Chris Heinrich combined for the nine SLU points. The Bills improved the lead to 18 on a traditional three-point play by Heinrich with 6:05 remaining in the half. But the Falcons proved to be resilient.
Back-up Falcons guard Lawrence Yazzi hit three three-point shots to close the half, and the Falcons narrowed the deficit to 40-32 at the break.
"We need to be able to sustain leads," Romar said. "That happened to us in the preseason games, too. Once we've worked so hard to obtain a lead, you can't just give it back. But you have to credit Air Force, because they kept working, hustling and fighting."
The Billikens kept trying to put away the Air Force in the second half, but never quite could bust the game open. After the Falcons closed to within five twice in the early moments of the second half on a Tyron Wright 3-pointer and a Billy Humphrey jumper, Saint Louis opened the lead to 59-41 with 10:37 to play. Love contributed nine points to the 17-4 run.
Air Force mounted another charge and closed within five with 6:07 to play as Wright drilled a three. Yazzi drained three more treys of his own to keep the Falcons in the hunt, and he brought Air Force within six with 16 seconds to play. But the Billikens drilled 6-of-6 free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
"I don't care what the scouting reports say, that guy (Yazzi) can shoot," Billiken guard Dave Fergerson said. "We kept pushing him farther out, and he kept tossing them in. The guy made some tough shots."
Ease finished with 25 points to lead the Falcons, while Wright chipped in with 14 along with seven assists. Forward Miguel Garcia also had 10 points.
Heinrich was the other Billiken in double figures with 11 points. The Billikens continued their good shooting from the preseason with 54 percent marksmanship.
The game was not without its negative side. John Redden, who had earned the starting point guard position, broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot and will be out six-to-eight weeks. It is the same injury that he suffered during his sophomore season.
"That's the hard part about sports," Romar said. "John had worked so hard to earn that spot and deserved it. His defensive pressure and experience will be missed."
Saint Louis (1-0) faces Alabama (0-1) on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Air Force tangles with Northern Iowa at 4 p.m.
