ST. LOUIS--Saint Louis senior forward Chris Sloan pumped in a career-high 22 points as the Billikens held off Eastern Kentucky 64-58 tonight in a men's non-conference basketball game at Savvis Center. The Bills snapped a two-game losing streak in regular-season home openers.

"We need to consistently have three or four guys in double figures to win, and tonight we had three along with two others that were close," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "Eastern was revved up to play and had some guys making shots, so they played a great game."

The Colonels stayed close all night by playing zone defense and shooting 52.2 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from three-point distance. The Billikens carried a 28-24 lead to halftime after trailing by as many as four and leading by as many as seven in the first half.

The Billikens jumped on top 39-30 early in the second half as senior guard Josh Fisher hit a pair of treys, but the Colonels hung in there behind the sharp-shooting of guards Matt Witt and Brandon Moore. Witt finished with a team-high 16 points and seven assists. A freshman, Moore drained 5-of-9 treys to finish with 15 points.

EKU kept whittling away, and Witt's lay-up at the 3:44 mark gave the Colonels a 55-54 lead. Billiken junior center Tom Frericks answered with a lay-up. Sloan came up with a crucial steal and made another lay-up to push SLU on top 58-55. Sloan hit another driving shot in the lane with 26 seconds left to give the Bills a five-point margin. Sloan and Fisher each hit two free throws in the final moments to seal the victory.

"Somebody needed to step into that role of making plays late in the game, and Josh and I stepped into it and don't even think twice about it," Sloan said.

The Billikens shot 44.9 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 80 percent from the free throw line. Sloan also topped the Bills with six boards, although EKU out-rebounded the Bills 30-23. Frericks finished with 12 points, and Fisher had 10. Fisher led the Bills with five assists, and sophomore guard Anthony Drejaj added five steals. The Billikens forced 24 turnovers.

Saint Louis continues its three-game homestand to open the season by hosting Savannah State on Mon., Nov. 24, at 7:10 p.m.