Feb. 26, 2000

By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer

ST. LOUIS - Paul McPherson made a reverse layup with 2.5 seconds to go as DePaul rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Saint Louis 55-54 victory Saturday.

McPherson had 17 points and 12 rebounds for DePaul (18-9, 8-6 Conference USA), which trailed 40-25 with 16:13 to go. Saint Louis (14-12, 6-8) still led by 14 with 8:32 to play after a dunk by Justin Tatum, but had no baskets and scored only four points the rest of the game.

It was the third large lead blown by Saint Louis, but the first at home, where the Billikens had a seven-game winning streak end. Saint Louis coughed up a 14-point advantage at Kansas State and led by 12 before losing at Tulane.

Quintin Richardson had 15 points and eight rebounds for DePaul, which lost at home in overtime to Saint Louis Jan. 22.

DePaul won despite shooting only 34.5 percent, with Richardson making only four of 13 shots and Bobby Simmons going 0-for-6. DePaul compensated for its inaccuracy by outrebounding Saint Louis 44-33.

The game was the first in a week for the Blue Demons, who began the game 4-for-24 and trailed 30-21 at halftime.

Justin Tatum led Saint Louis with 11 points and Chris Heinrich had eight points and seven rebounds. Justin Love, the second-leading scorer in Conference USA, was held to nine points on 2-for-11 shooting.

After Tatum's dunk, DePaul had a 12-1 run and narrowed the gap to three points at 51-48 on a basket in the lane by Lance Williams with 3:26 to play. Love gave Saint Louis a 54-50 lead with two free throws at the 1:31 mark, but DePaul got the game's last five points.

Richardson hit the first end of a bonus with 7.4 seconds to go and missed the second, but a Saint Louis player knocked the rebound out of bounds. After a DePaul timeout, McPherson snaked down the baseline for the winning basket.

Love's long 3-pointer at the buzzer was partially blocked by Richardson.