Senior guard Marque Perry sank two free throws with 1.1 seconds left as Saint Louis University claimed its first Conference USA victory of the season 69-66 over Memphis at Savvis Center on Saturday afternoon. The Billikens improve to 7-9 overall, 1-4 in C-USA. Memphis drops to 11-5, 2-3 in C-USA. Perry tallied a season-high 24 points, the most by a Billiken this season, and was 11-of-12 from the line, including six straight in the waning moments of the game.
The Tigers led 22-16 in the first half with 8:19 left to play but the Billikens used a 7-0 run to take a 23-22 lead 5:43 before intermission. Saint Louis grabbed a 33-29 at half after shooting 52.4 percent in the first half. The Tigers used their outside shooting to stay in the game, hitting five-of-seven from behind the arc.
The Billikens took a six-point lead, their biggest of the contest, and led 42-36 at the 14:59 mark on a Perry drive and layup. Memphis answered with a 9-3 run and tied the game 45-45 with 10:18 to play in the game. Drew Diener answered with his fourth 3-pointer to give the Billikens a lead they would not relinquish. Rodney Carney answered with a long jumper for the Tigers, but Josh Fisher scored on consecutive possessions for the Billikens as SLU built a 52-47 lead with 8:28 to play. The Tigers would not relent but the Billikens had an answer for each Memphis attempt to rally. Antonio Burks had a conventional three-point play as Memphis closed to 52-50. Perry again drove the lane for the Billikens and hit a short jumper to push the Billikens up 54-50. SLU led 56-53 when Perry sank two free throws at the 4:02 mark. Jeremy Hunt hit a trey for Memphis to cut the gap to 58-56 with 3:53 remaining in the game. Perry again was fouled an drilled two more free throws for a 60-56 lead. Hunt made one free throw as the Tigers edged closer at 60-57 with 3:17 to play. Fisher was sent to the line and hit two more charity tosses for a 62-57 lead. Hunt pulled Memphis to 62-60 on a long 3-pointer with 1:58 to play in the game.
Neither team scored on its next two possessions, but Perry fearlessly drove the lane, darted between three defenders for a layup and a 64-60. Memphis pushed the ball up the court and Hunt drew a foul on a three-point attempt with 17 seconds to play. The freshman guard converted on all three free throws to make it 64-63. Perry again was fouled and restored the Bills' lead to 66-63 with 16 seconds remaining. Memphis got a good look at a 3-pointer to tie the game but the attempt was long and Diener was fouled in the scramble for the ball. He made his second free throw for a 67-63 lead with seven seconds to play. Memphis' Burks hit a trey with 1.1 seconds to play as the Tigers closed to 67-66. The Billikens again inbounded to Perry, and was immediately fouled. He sank both free throws for a 69-66 lead, and Memphis' desperation heave from midcourt fell short.
For the Billikens, Diener added 13 points, hitting all four attempts from 3-point range. He has now surpassed 100 career made 3-pointers.Chris Sloan added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Jeremy Hunt led Memphis with 18 points while Rodney Carney sank four treys and finished with 14 points. With Kenny Brown leading the way, the Billikens shut down Memphis' leading scorer Chris Massie, holding the forward to just four points, 16 below his season average. The Billikens shot 52.4 percent from the field, hitting exactly 11-of-21 shots in each half. The Billikens withstood Memphis' nine 3-pointers and committed only 10 turnovers.
