ATLANTA - No. 10 Georgia Tech remained undefeated by knocking off Saint Louis 75-62 this afternoon in the first game of the Peach Bowl Classic at Phillips Arena. Junior guard B.J. Elder led all scorers with 17 points as the Yellow Jackets pushed their record to 8-0, which is their best start since 1990.
"Georgia Tech has an excellent team and deserves tons of credit for the way they play," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "They come at you in waves. If you're not prepared to handle it, they can embarrass you."
In a tightly played first half, Georgia Tech scored the first five points of the game and had the lead for the majority of the half. But the Billikens took their first lead 21-18 on freshman guard Darren Clarke's first trey of the season with six minutes to play in the half. After junior center Tom Frericks' put-back gave the Bills a 23-22 lead, Elder buried back-to-back triples sandwiched around Billiken freshman forward Justin Johnson's jumper, and Georgia Tech led 28-25.
Jackets sophomore guard Jarrett Jack hit a floater down the lane as time expired to give Tech a 32-29 lead at the half. The Billikens survived foul trouble to senior guard Josh Fisher that caused him to miss more than 10 minutes.
The Jackets turned up the defensive heat in the second half with fullcourt pressure and went on a 16-4 run to blow the game open. After Jack and Elder opened the half with threeballs, Jack and forward Clarence Moore converted off steals and Tech led 46-33. Saint Louis suffered more foul trouble when Fisher picked up two more quick fouls, and the Billikens never threatened again.
The Jackets shot 57 percent in their second half push. Tech converted 18 Saint Louis turnovers into 16 points. Elder led Tech with 17 points, while Isma'il Muhammad added 16 and Jack contributed 13.
Despite the foul trouble, Fisher topped SLU with 14 points. Reggie Bryant had 11 first-half points and finished with 13. Frericks contributed 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Clarke added nine points on three treys.
Having lost its third in a row, Saint Louis (3-3) returns home to Savvis Center on Wed., Dec. 17, to host Grambling State in a 7:10 p.m. tip-off.
