ROSEMONT, Ill. - Saint Louis rallied from 13-point halftime deficit to beat DePaul 69-62 this afternoon in a Conference USA men's basketball game before 9,843 fans at Allstate Arena. Just 10 days earlier, the Billikens had coughed up a 21-point first-half lead at home in a two-point loss to the Blue Demons.

Billiken leading scorer Reggie Bryant poured in 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as SLU snapped the Blue Demons' five-game winnings streak. The Billikens shot 88.9 percent (8-9) from the arc in the second half and finished at 70.6 percent (12-17) from threeland for the game. Bryant (6-9) and sophomore guard Anthony Drejaj (3-3) combined to make 9-of-12 from deep.

"It's a great win for us to get back that game from DePaul that we lost at Savvis Center," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "I'm particularly happy for Reggie, because people don't understand how bad he's felt about his shooting recently. He spent a considerable amount of time on extra shooting in the gym the past two days, and it paid off.'

After a first half that saw the Bills trail by as many as 14, SLU still was down 32-19 at the break. Saint Louis was playing without center Tom Frericks, who missed the game with a moderate shoulder separation, and started freshman Ian Vouyoukas. But when Vouyoukas missed all five of his shots in the first half, Soderberg started senior Ross Varner in the second half, and the change paid off.

Varner knocked in his first shot of the second half, a threeball that hit the back iron, bounced straight up, came back down and bounced twice on the rim before falling through. That brought Blue Demons center Andre Brown away from the paint and opened up the Billikens' offense.

Bryant, who fired in six treys for the afternoon, knotted the game at 48 on a triple with 6:14 to play. Senior guard Josh Fisher snapped the tie on a trey off a quick feed from Bryant at the 4:55 mark. After a pair of Quemont Greer free throws pulled DePaul within 51-50, Bryant buried another trey for a four-point advantage.

DePaul's Brown made only 1-of-2 free throws, and then Varner knocked down yet another triple as the Bills surged to a 57-51 lead at the 2:57 mark. "It was a great day for Ross," Soderberg said. "He hadn't played in the first half, but when we called on him, he was ready. He's a great team player, who never complains about his playing time or his role."

DePaul got within 63-59 after a steal off the Blue Demons' fullcourt pressure led to LeVar Seals' dunk with 28 seconds to play. But Bryant tossed in a pair of freebies, and senior forward Chris Sloan finished off the Demons with a lay-up and a dunk.

DePaul (15-8, 8-4) junior guard Drake Diener led four Demons in double figures with 15 points. Greer and Brown each added 12 points, and Brown topped all rebounders with 13. Freshman guard Sammy Mejia chipped in with 10 points. The Demons shot 42.6 percent from the field, 25 percent from the arc and 85.7 percent form the line.

Drejaj chipped in 12 for the Bills on a perfect shooting day (4-of-4) from the field, and Varner finished with a crucial 10 off the bench. Fisher led the Bills with six assists as SLU piled up 18 assists and only seven turnovers. The Bills shot 45.8 percent from the field and 76.5 percent from the line.

Saint Louis (14-9, 7-5) continues its three-game road swing by visiting Cincinnati on Wed., Feb. 25, at 7:05 p.m. (CT).