St. Louis-Saint Louis guards Drew Diener and Marque Perry combined for 35 points as the Billikens soared past Southeast Missouri State 88-62 this afternoon in a men's non-conference game at Savvis Center. Diener threw in a career-high 18 points, and Perry popped in 17 as the Billikens won consecutive games for the first time this season.
"We came off a week when we had some rest, and our guys were much sharper," Billikens head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We were able to clean up some details in practice this week. We made shots today that we probably haven't hit in other games. It wasn't as much a great improvement in the offense as it was guys making shots because they had fresher legs."
After the Indians had an early 6-3 lead, the Billikens stormed to a 24-12 advantage with 10:20 to play in the first half. Sophomore guard Jason Edwin got a lay-up and a trey to cap the 21-6 run. The Billikens led by as many as 24 in the first half when Josh Fisher drained a pair of free throws with 1:23 remaining. SLU led comfortably 49-28 at the break.
Saint Louis never had cause for concern in the second half although the Billikens were stuck on 59 for nearly four minutes. The Indians never could get closer than 17. Edwin broke the drought with a lay-up off a pretty feed from Perry, who tied Fisher for game-high honors in assists with seven.
Diener exploded for 12 of his 18 points in the second half as he made all four of his shots including three triples. He also set a career high with five treys in a single game.
"I got a lot of good looks, because Marque, Josh and Randy did a good job penetrating the middle and kicking it out to me," Diener said. "It works both ways, because when I'm making shots out there then they get better looks in the paint."
Junior forward Chris Braun also enjoyed a highlight game by matching his season high with 15 points and connecting on 6-of-9 shots including his first five. Junior center Kenny Brown led the Bills with seven boards, and Edwin contributed nine points and six rebounds. Saint Louis shots 49.3 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from three.
Perry noted the Billikens' season-high total of 21 assists and season-low 11 turnovers, "Today we were penetrating and passing," he said. "When they collapsed, we found the open man. Our guys were doing a good job of getting open and making themselves available to receive the ball. We did a good job with that today."
Southeast Missouri (1-6) guard Derek Winans topped the Indians with 18 points, and Damarcus Hence came off the bench to provide 10. The Indians shot 51 percent from the floor, but turned the ball over 24 times.
The Billikens (4-5) conclude their three-game homestand at Savvis with Furman on Wed., Dec. 19, at 7:10 p.m.
