St. Louis - EA Sports All-Stars East held off a determined Saint Louis rally tonight and topped the Billikens 54-51 tonight in a men's exhibition basketball game at Savvis Center. The Billikens finished their preseason with a 1-1 record.
"This game was better for us than some other exhibition games where you blow out the other team," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "We dug in and fought back. We thought we had good looks and just didn't make them. We don't think that's going to happen throughout the year, because we've got good shooters."
The Billikens rallied from an early 11-point second half deficit and took a 49-48 lead on guard Anthony Drejaj's trey with 1:46 remaining. Former Duke guard Ricky Price knocked in two free throws to restore the All-Stars' lead. After SLU freshman guard Darren Clarke missed a triple, All-Stars guard Greg Grays dropped in two more tosses. Drejaj got a quick lay-up to pull the Bills within 52-51with 15 seconds left.
Grays drained two more free throws for a 54-51 advantage, and Billiken senior forward Ross Varner's three from straight away was on target, but hit the back iron and bounced away. SLU shot just 2-21 from three-point range.
The Billikens bolted out of the gate behind sharp shooting and sticky defense to take a 9-0 lead. But the All-Stars rallied behind three-point shooting and center Lonnie Jones' eight blocked shots to grab an 18-15 lead. The road weary All-Stars went to a zone, and the Billikens' three-point shooting betrayed them as SLU went 1of-12 from long distance in the first half. The All-Stars led 27-22 at the break as the Bills shot only 29.4 percent from the field.
Price led all scorers with 15 points. Grays finished with 10, and All-Stars guard Al Faux chipped in with 13. The All-Stars shot 48.7 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from three and 78.6 percent from the line.
Senior forward Chris Sloan topped the Bills with 15 points, and Josh Fisher added 10. The Bills out-rebounded the All-Stars 36-27. SLU allowed only three offensive boards, while grabbing 18 of their own. The Bills shot 35.5 percent from the field, 9.5 percent from deep and 62.5 percent from the line.
Saint Louis opens its regular season on Fri., Nov. 21, against Eastern Kentucky. Tip-off at Savvis Center is 7:10 p.m.
