Southwest Missouri State rallied from a 10-point deficit with 8:20 remaining and knocked off Saint Louis 72-64 in overtime tonight at Savvis Center. The Billikens dropped their second straight, while the Bears evened their record at 1-1.
"I thought we played about as well and as sharp in the first half that I've seen this group play since I took over as head coach," Billiken first-year head coach Brad Soderberg said. "Because of our shallow rotation, I thought fatigue had an impact on our team in the second half, and the statistics bear that out."
The Billikens fashioned a 38-28 halftime advantage on the strength of 61.5 percent shooting while knocking down 6-of-7 treys. The Bills piled up 14 of their 16 assists in the opening 20 minutes.
With Saint Louis holding a 44-32 second half advantage, SMS ripped off 13 unanswered points to grab the lead 45-44. Bears guard Tommy Johnson drilled a triple and dropped in a lay-up to cap the rally.
The Billikens responded with an 11-0 run of their own. Marque Perry's free throws and jumper restored the lead to SLU. When Josh Fisher connected on 1-of-2 free throws, the Bills led 55-45 with 8:20 left.
SMS again climbed out of the hole and took the lead 59-58 on forward Shelton Colwell's back-to-back buckets. Colwell added a free throw, and the Bears led 60-58 at the one-minute mark. Perry's jumper tied the game at 60 with 47 seconds left, but SMS guard Terrance McGee drained two tosses to again give the Bears a two-point margin with 32 ticks showing.
Perry knocked down two free throws with 21 seconds remaining to tie the game at 62, and the Bears last shot at the horn went awry.
In overtime, Perry scored first to put SLU on top, and then appeared to make a solid defensive play by tying up McGee, but was called for the foul. McGee made both free throws to tie the game. Forward Travis Walk threw down a breakaway slam after a Billiken turnover, and SLU couldn't make a shot the rest of the way.
The Billikens shot only 25 percent and were 0-for-9 from threeland in the second half. The Bills also were only 10-of-18 from the free throw line, while the Bears were 22-of-30. After winning the rebound battle in the first half, the Bills lost the battle of the boards 42-33 for the game.
SLU's Perry matched SMS' Colwell for game high scoring honors with 17 points. The Billikens' senior guard posted a career-high 11 rebounds along with five assists and four steals. Josh Fisher added 14 points. In his first collegiate start, freshman guard Anthony Drejaj posted 10 points, five boards, five assists and three steals. Junior swingman Chris Sloan, who was among the Bills' best players in the preseason and the season opener, was limited to 22 minutes with foul trouble and finished with eight points.
The Bears' balanced scoring featured two double-doubles. Colwell added 13 boards to his line, while center Monwell Randle finished with 13 points and 10 boards. McGee had 14 points, and Johnson provided 13 points off the bench.
"I told our team after the game that we have two options," Soderberg said. "We can hang our heads or we can get back to work. I opt for getting back to work."
The Billikens begin a two-game road trip by facing St. Bonaventure in Rochester, N.Y., on Sat., Nov. 30. SLU concludes the trip at top-ranked Arizona on Tue., Dec. 3.
