St. Louis - Top-seeded Saint Louis knocked off UAB 2-1 for the Conference USA men's tournament championship this afternoon at Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Billiken freshman midfielder Brad Davis scored a goal and assisted on another as the Billikens topped UAB for the second time this season and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"Brad Davis was absolutely spectacular," Billikens head coach Bob Warming said. "This is a great thing for him to experience at the college level, because you don't get a chance to experience this playing in a professional developmental situation. There is great value in this in preparing for a future career in soccer as well as in life."

In a cautiously played first half that saw SLU out-shoot UAB 3-2, Saint Louis freshman Brad Davis was the most dangerous player on the field as he registered all three Billiken shots. Blazer keeper David Clemente stopped Davis' first two shots, and Davis' pretty deflection was nullified by a Billiken offside. Davis put the Bills on top at 43:10 on a 10-yard one touch to the lower right corner with Andy Pusateri picking up the assist.

"I've played with Andy a long time, and I've seen him make that run a thousand times," Davis said. "I knew if I hung out wide that he'd get me the ball. He did, and I was one-on-one with the keeper."

Saint Louis expanded the lead at 60:52 on senior forward Vedad Alagic's first goal of the postseason. After Nick Walls had won a battle for the ball in the UAB end, the sophomore forward found Davis at the top of the Blazers' area. Davis slipped a diagonal pass to his left, which put Alagic in alone on Clemente. Alagic deked the keeper to the turf and slipped the shot in behind him.

"Walls won the ball and it deflected off a defender to me," Davis said. "I slid it across to Vedad, and I thought he'd hit it first time. But he was patient, danced around him and put it away."

UAB climbed right back into it at 63:38 as forward Lane Knight connected from five yards off a corner kick from Houston Smith. The Billikens began to play conservatively after that and successfully absorbed the Blazers' pressure in the final 20 minutes. Billiken keeper Paul Nagy had to come up big with saves twice within 90 seconds to preserve the lead. Knight tested Nagy with a deep shot from the wide right in the 83rd minute, and Nagy leaped to punch Jonathan Weimer's sizzling 25-yard drive over the cross bar in the 85th minute.

"After our second goal, UAB began to bring more people forward," Nagy said. "We just needed to calm down, play our game, and we knew that we'd pull it out."

Nagy became the starter when John Politis, who had started the last four matches, couldn't go because of a nagging back injury. After learning about an hour before game time that he would start, Nagy made three saves while facing five UAB shots.

"Paul did exceptionally well and came up with a couple of big time saves," Warming said. "He's not as big as John, but Paul dealt with UAB's height and strength up front today."

Saint Louis out-shot the Blazers 8-5 and had a 6-3 edge in corners. Warming thought it was a typical collegiate championship match, "You play somewhat conservatively and make sure that they don't get behind you."

The Billikens are 13-3-2, while UAB is 14-4-2. NCAA Tournament bids will be announced at 3 p.m. (CT) tomorrow afternoon. Saint Louis will make its 39th appearance in the 42-year history of the NCAA Tournament.

"It will be a shame if our league doesn't get three teams in," Warming said. "UAB is a wonderful team, and Memphis is certainly deserving. At least we don't have to worry about the at-large bids this year."

SAINT LOUIS - 2,  UAB - 1 
 SLU   43:10  Brad Davis 10-yds to lower right from Andy Pusateri
 SLU   60:52  Vedad Alagic 5-yd break-in from Davis and Nick Walls
 UAB   63:38  Lane Knight 5 yds off corner kick from Houston Smith

Shots: SLU-8, UAB-5 Corners: SLU-6, UAB-3 Saves: SLU-3 (Nagy), UAB-4 (Clemente-3, Team-1) Fouls: SLU-22, UAB-19 Att: 1,049