ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis senior forward Chris Sloan converted a traditional three-point play with 9.7 seconds remaining this afternoon to lift the Billikens past Charlotte 46-45 in a Conference USA men's basketball game before 9,166 fans at Savvis Center. The Billikens (12-9, 5-5) snapped a four-game losing streak.
"That was the definition of a grinder," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "It's not the way we want to play all the time. It's not fun to play that way or coach that style, and it's not all that fun to watch. But we thought it gave us the best chance to win today considering that we were short-handed."
Charlotte slugged its way to a 23-20 halftime edge and led virtually throughout the half. The Billikens led 3-2 early on freshman center Ian Vouyoukas' traditional three-point play, and later tied the game at 18 on junior guard Reggie Bryant's jumper. The Bills took another brief 20-18 lead on Josh Fisher's steal and lay-up, but Charlotte countered with a 5-0 run to close the half while holding SLU scoreless for the final 3:33.
The Billikens continued to chase the 49ers throughout the second half as Charlotte led 44-36 with 2:28 to play. The Bills got lay-ups from junior forward Izik Ohanon and Sloan to pull to within 44-40 with 1:05 to play. Charlotte forward Eddie Basden connected on only 1-of-2 free throws with 54 seconds left to record the 49ers' final point.
Bryant buried a triple with 31 ticks left to bring SLU within 45-43. On the 49ers' next possession, Sloan fouled freshman guard Mitchell Baldwin, who missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw, but Basden rebounded the miss. SLU's Fisher then stole the ball from 49ers forward Curtis Withers setting up Sloan's game-winning play.
From the free throw line, Sloan drove down the right side of the lane, laid it in off glass and was fouled by Baldwin. He calmly stroked the free throw to give SLU its only lead of the second half. The 49ers advanced the ball to halfcourt and called time out. Off the inbounds, Withers drove the left side of the lane, but came up short on a three-foot floater off the backboard. Fisher rebounded the miss and safely sprinted up the floor to an unusual victory.
"I'm really happy for Chris Sloan, because he took Wednesday's loss very, very hard," Soderberg said. "I was actually concerned about him, because he was still despondent about it on Thursday. For him to make that basket today, the foul shot and nine rebounds, it's kind of poetic justice."
"We need this more than you can imagine," Sloan said. "If we had come back, been that close again and fallen short, I think that would have been a real load for our team psyche. This is huge for us, because maybe it gets the ball back rolling again. It was at this time last year that we started making our run."
Charlotte was fresh from upsetting Louisville in an emotional win at Halton Arena Thursday night. Withers, a C-USA Player of the Year candidate, led all scorers with 13 points, but only had two free throws after halftime, to go along with a game-high 12 boards. Basden chipped in with 10 points. The 49ers shot 34.6 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from three and a costly 41.7 percent (5-12) from the free throw line.
"We didn't play our best, but I thought we fought and guarded as well as we've guarded all year," said Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz. "We didn't score the ball very well, but we did all the things we need to do to put us in a position to win. That's what makes it so tough to be up eight late and let it get away
'But give Saint Louis credit for making a couple big shots, got a big rebound and they drove it hard to the hole. They made more plays down the stretch than we did. As a result, they stole one from us."
Ohanon led the Bills with 12 points, while Sloan finished with 10 and a team-high nine rebounds. Vouyoukas tossed in nine points, all in the first half, in his first career start as junior center Tom Frericks missed the game with a groin injury. The Bills shot 37.7 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from the arc and 60 percent from the free throw line.
Saint Louis concludes its three-game homestand by hosting Marquette at Savvis Center on Wed., Feb. 18, in an 8:10 p.m. tip-off.
