NEW ORLEANS - Saint Louis junior guard Josh Fisher matched his career high with 15 points and set a career high with nine assists as the Billikens topped Tulane 67-59 tonight in the Conference USA regular-season finale for both clubs at Fogelman Arena. The Billikens (14-15, 8-7) won their fourth straight game to claim the No. 5 seed at Ohio Casualty Group C-USA Tournament, which begins Wednesday.
"Josh was strong with the ball today, and that's the type of performance he's capable of on a consistent basis," Billikens head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "Tulane did a great job of focusing on stopping Marque Perry, but we got offensive contributions from a lot of players. That was as solid a team victory as we've had this season."
The first half was tightly contested until the Billikens' defense stiffened and held Tulane scoreless for the final 4:53. Wave guard Waitari Marsh's lay-up tied the game at 25, and the Bills ran off 10-consecutive points to lead 35-25 at the half. Fisher began the surge with a lay-up. Sophomore guard Jason Edwin had a lay-up and a dunk off his own steal in the middle of the rally, and sophomore swingman Chris Sloan ended the run with a lay-up. The Bills shot 48.4 percent in the first half while limiting the Wave to 37.9 percent from the field.
Saint Louis withstood a number of Tulane rallies in the second half. After Fisher again scored on a lay-up to being the half, the Wave pulled to within 38-32 on Marsh's lay-up at the 17:08 mark. With 15:34 remaining, Tulane forward Brandon Brown scored on a stickback to pull the Wave within 40-36.
But the Billikens answered with a 10-0 run as Fisher slipped in another lay-up. Fisher stole the ball and fed freshman guard Randy Pulley for a lay-up and a traditional three-point play. Fisher drilled a triple, and SLU led 48-36 with 12:45 to play. When junior forward Chris Braun scored a lay-in, the Billikens matched their largest lead of the game at 50-36.
Tulane center George Brown blocked Fisher's lay-up on a breakaway despite the SLU bench's pleas for a goaltending violation. That fueled Wave forward Linton Johnson's dunk, brought the Wave within 53-43 and gave both Tulane and its crowd some life. A quick Saint Louis timeout to settle things down resulted in the Billikens still maintaining a 10-point advantage with 4:26 to play.
The Wave still had one last push in them. When forward Nick Sinville scored on an offensive rebound, Tulane trailed 63-59 with 50 ticks left on the clock. Diener drained four free throws around a blocked shot by Kenny Brown and Fisher's steal to end the game.
Fisher led four Billikens in double figures as Braun finished with 14 points, while Diener and Sloan each had 10. The Bills shot 47.2 percent from the field and had one of their better assist-to-turnover ratios of the year with 16 assists and only nine turnovers.
Tulane (13-14, 5-11) dropped its fourth straight game. Seniors Linton Johnson and Waitari Marsh led the Wave with 19 and 14 points, respectively. Brandon Brown grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. The Wave finished at 45.5 percent from the field and enjoyed a sizeable 41-25 rebounding advantage. The Billikens countered that by forcing 19 Tulane turnovers.
The Billikens play Tulane in a rematch in the first round of the Ohio Casualty Group Conference USA Tournament on Wed., Mar. 6, in Cincinnati's Firstar Center at a time still to be determined.
