CINCINNATI (AP) - Saint Louis snapped a 20-year drought in Cincinnati by holding off the Bearcats 58-55 tonight in a Conference USA game at the Shoemaker Center. It was the Billikens' first win at The Shoe in 12 attempts and their first victory of any kind in Cincinnati since the 1981-82 season.
"We told our guys coming in here that we had to believe we could win," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "Everyone in our locker room thought we could win, and they came in prepared to do just that. We made it hard for them to get anything done on offense, and we managed to survive the end of the game."
The Billikens held UC scoreless for five minutes of the first half as SLU carved out an 18-9 lead on sophomore forward Izik Ohanan's jumper at the 7:11 mark. Senior forward Chris Braun gave the Bills a big lift with six first half points after center Kenny Brown collected his second personal foul. Braun's lay-up gave SLU a 30-18 advantage with 50 seconds remaining, and Marque Perry's free throw provided SLU with a 31-18 lead at the break.
Cincinnati shot only 22 percent from the field in the first half and was 0-of-5 from three-point distance. Meanwhile, SLU shot 40 percent from the floor and knocked down 8-of-10 free throws.
SLU junior swingman Chris Sloan opened the second half with a trey as the Bills came out strong from the locker room. Perry's jumper at the 17:10 mark provided SLU with its largest lead at 36-21.
Cincinnati began to extend its defensive pressure, but Bills senior guard Drew Diener drilled a wide open threeball as SLU 39-25 at the 14:49 mark. UC guard Field Williams answered with a triple, and when SLU's Perry had some tough luck on two shots that rolled off the iron, 'Cats guard Leonard Stokes hit a lay-up to pull UC within 39-30 at the 12:12 mark.
Saint Louis went 10 minutes without a field goal, but managed to make seven free throws over that span and still led 46-41 with 6:19 to play. Perry nailed a triple and another jumper in front of Diener's second threeball of the night, and the Bills led 54-45 at the 2:52 mark. Brown's free throw restored a 10-point margin with 2:10 left, but Cincinnati wasn't done.
Williams hit a high-arcing three out of the deep left corner, and the 'Cats turned up the defensive pressure another notch. After a five-second count on Saint Louis on the inbounds, UC guard Tony Bobbitt drilled a three off the left wing and was fouled by Diener. The Bills' were saved from a four-point play when Bobbitt missed the free throw, and SLU still led 55-51 with 2:02 left. After Sloan turned the ball over, Bobbitt missed two more three-point attempts and another jumper. Billiken guard Josh Fisher controlled the rebound, but the Bills suffered a 10-second violation trying to move the ball into the forecourt.
UC's Williams missed another trey attempt, and Sloan corralled the rebound and was fouled. Sloan canned one of the two tosses, and SLU led 56-51 with 28 seconds left. Stokes went to the rim for a lay-in at the 21 second mark, and the 'Cats immediately fouled Perry.
Perry, who was 89 percent from the free throw line this year in the final two minutes of games, made only 1-of-2 and left the door open as SLU led 57-53 with 19 seconds remaining. UC went to the same tactic again as Stokes drained a jumper, and the 'Cats fouled Perry. The Bills' guard again made just one of the tosses, and SLU was hanging on 58-55 at the nine second mark.
The Billikens pressured Cincinnati at half court, and Stokes desperation three was rebounded by SLU freshman guard Anthony Drejaj as time ran out.
"We knew the pressure was coming, and we were prepared for it, but we didn't execute against it very well," Perry said. "We managed to get through it and win the game. That's what matters."
Cincinnati (14-8, 6-5) suffered its fifth consecutive C-USA loss as the 'Cats shot 29 percent from the field and 25 percent from the arc. The Bearcats out-rebounded the Bills 40-32 and had 17 offensive rebounds, but couldn't convert. UC ended up with 18 more shots from the field than SLU had. Stokes led the 'Cats with 18 points. Forward Jason Maxiell posted 12 points and 10 boards. Williams finished with 11 points.
Perry led the Bills with 20 points, and Brown matched Perry for the club lead with six boards. Brown did another superlative defensive job on UC's Maxiell, who shot 4-of-14 from the field. Sloan chipped in with 14 points, while Josh Fisher had a game-high five assists. SLU finished at 38.6 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from the arc and 70.4 percent from the line.
"I just tried to keep Maxiell off the low block and wait for some help to come," Brown said. "We doubled sometimes, but not all the time. He's a great player who will be in the NBA some day, but we did a good job tonight."
The Billikens (11-12, 5-7) travel to DePaul on Sat., Feb. 22, for a 1 p.m. (CST) start.
