CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Saint Louis University men's basketball dropped a 62-55 decision to the Charlotte 49ers in Conference USA action at Halton Arena tonight. The Billikens got 33 points from the combination of Marque Perry and Chris Sloan, but could not overcome 17 turnovers and three lengthy scoring droughts.
Trailing 33-26 at the half, the Billikens were sluggish out of the blocks, turning the ball as many times as they got off shots in the first three minutes of the period. Sloan ended the skid with a three, which Perry followed with a triple of his own. A Sloan free throw and Perry basket later, Saint Louis was within three points with 15:38 remaining. Charlotte's Mitchell Baldwin doubled the lead, however, with a bucket and a free throw, while drawing the third foul on Billiken guard Anthony Drejaj in the process.
Demon Brown hit a three for the 49ers off another Billiken turnover, again extending the lead to nine points. Senior Drew Diener hit a pair of threes to pull the Bills within four with just under seven minutes left. The 49ers had opportunities to put the Billikens away, but 55.6 percent free throw shooting gave SLU life.
A Sloan triple from the left side brought the Bills within three with the clock a tick under four minutes. Charlotte's Calvin Clemmons' bucket and a Brown triple sandwiched a Perry charge to push the 49ers back in front by eight. Butter Johnson drew Sloan's fifth foul with just over two minutes left, but missed both free throws. Saint Louis scored the next four points to cut the lead in half.
With 44 seconds remaining, SLU fouled Baldwin, who missed both. Josh Fisher's three pointer was off the mark and led to an emphatic dunk by Baldwin to put the 49ers up 59-53. Diener fouled Curtis Withers, who hit just one of two. SLU's Izik Ohanon pulled down the rebound and scored a layup at the other end, cutting the lead to five with 12 seconds left. The Billiken defense forced Nash into a traveling call, getting the ball back down by five. Ohanon's three-pointer went astray, however, and Eddie Basden hit a pair of three throws to seal the victory.
"Charlotte played an aggressive defense," Saint Louis head coach Brad Soderberg said. "I was pleased with our kids' efforts, but any time you give up 16 offensive rebounds and 17 turnovers it's tough to win. Nonetheless we played hard at the end. Charlotte's pressure was excellent. Their guards did a great job of keeping pressure on our guards. They forced a lot of turnovers. I'm still displeased with the way our kids handled the ball, but a lot of that credit goes to Charlotte."
Play went back and forth in the first half with three ties and four lead changes before the 49ers wrested control late in the period. An 11-2 run over 3-1/2 minute opened a 32-22 lead before the SLU cut the lead to seven at the half.
Brown finished with a game-high 24 points. For the Billikens, Perry hit for 17 along with a game-high nine rebounds. Sloan finished with 16, including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Fisher handed out seven assists to go with five points on the night. Senior Kenny Brown pulled down eight rebounds, including four on the offensive end.
Saint Louis is back in action on Sat., Feb. 1, against DePaul. Tipoff at the Savvis Center is set for 7:10 p.m.
