Saint Louis senior swingman
Maurice Jeffers poured in 18 points as the Billikens overpowered Washington 69-61 in a non-conference men's basketball game tonight at Bank of America Arena. Fellow seniors
Matt Baniak and
Chris Heinrich contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively, as the Bills stretched their winning streak to four.
"Our seniors provided leadership and productivity in a tough road game tonight, and that was the difference," Billikens head coach Chris Heinrich and Justin Tatum also were solid."
Washington executed well right out of the gate. When forward Greg Clark drilled a trey with 17:18 mark, the Huskies held a 9-4 advantage. With the score tied at 19, Saint Louis closed the half with an 11-3 run highlighted by a pair of Baniak buckets and four free throws by Jeffers.
The Billikens maintained a sold second-half lead and pushed their advantage to 14 with 9:46 remaining on a pair of free throws from Heinrich, who finished with his first double-double of the season as he led the club with 10 boards. The Huskies never could get closer than eight points as the Billikens always had an answer to the UW pressure defenses.
Will Perkins led the Huskies (3-3) with 15 points, while fellow forward Greg Clark added 11. The Billikens limited UW to 34.8 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from three. The Huskies hampered their own cause by shooting only 57.9 percent from three.
It was a sweet homecoming for Romar and sophomore guard Josh Fisher. Romar played two years for the Huskies, while Fisher is a native of the Seattle area. It was Romar's first game as a head coach in his old stomping grounds.
"It certainly was a sweet win for Josh, because it's always special to come home and win in front of your friends and family," Romar said. "I've got a lot of fond memories of this place, because I learned an awful lot about the game right here. I know Coach (Marv) Harshman was here tonight, and it was exciting and gratifying to win the game with him watching."
Saint Louis had it streak of three consecutive games of shooting over 50 percent snapped as the Huskies held the Bills to 42.9 percent from the field and 20 percent from three. For the first time this season, the Bills won with a negative assist-to-turnover ratio as they dished out only nine assists compared to their 19 turnovers. However, UW had 18 turnovers of its own.
Saint Louis (5-1) completes its two-game road swing at Missouri on Sat., Dec. 9, in Columbia. The Billikens return to Savvis Center to host Dayton on Sat., Dec. 16.
