St. Louis - Saint Louis senior guard Marque Perry scored six of his game-high 16 points in the final five minutes as the Billikens held off Athletes in Action 66-58 tonight at Savvis Center. The Billikens closed their two-game exhibition season with a 2-0 record.
"Our starting five tonight played good ball and looked sharp at the beginning of the game at both ends," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "When Josh Fisher came out of the game in the first half with foul trouble, there was a big difference in our offensive efficiency."
The Billikens built a 20-6 first half lead before Fisher exited with his second foul with 11:17 remaining. The Bills pushed the lead to 24-10 with 9:37 left, but stalled offensively the rest of the half. SLU carried a 31-23 lead to the break.
Saint Louis led by as many as 13 in the second stanza, but AIA whittled the margin to four on back-to-back treys from guard Saddi Washington and forward Reed Rawlings at the 6:18 mark. Perry took over and drilled two mid-range jumpers to reclaim control of the game. The Billikens nailed 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch as Fisher drained 5-of-6 to salt the game away.
"We're a senior dominated team, and I can tell the difference in practice and the games," senior forward Chris Braun said. "When things get a little haywire for a minute, you look around and there are four other guys on the floor who have been through it. We've been through these situations before, and we know we're going to get them right."
Saint Louis shot 42.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three but only 59.3 percent from the free throw line. Braun was the only other Billiken in double figures with 11.
Fisher led all players with seven assists and has 19 assists with only three turnovers in two games. Senior center Kenny Brown collected a team-high five boards as the Bills out-rebounded AIA 31-28.
"Josh is a great passer, because he's always looking for me, Drew and Chris Sloan coming off screens," Perry said. "The exhibition games build our confidence going into our first game."
Saint Louis tightened its defense in its second outing and forced 26 AIA turnovers while collecting 18 steals. Five different Bills had three steals. AIA shot 41.7 percent from the field, 46.2 percent from three and 81.5 percent from the line.
The Billikens open the regular season on Fri., Nov. 22, by hosting UT-Martin at Savvis in a 7:10 p.m. start.
