ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Sophomore guard Anthony Drejaj's three-pointer out of the right corner beat the buzzer and sent the Billikens past Iowa 70-69 tonight at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The game-winner capped a SLU rally from an 18-point first-half deficit.
"I just can't admire this group enough for the way they just keep fighting," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "Even when there's times when it seems like we'll never make another basket, they keep battling."
After Iowa had taken the lead on Pierre Pierce's lay-up with five seconds remaining, the Billikens caught a break. The clock didn't stop after the made-basket, and the officials had to review the play on the TV monitor, giving the Billikens, who were without a timeout, time to get set. Iowa denied Josh Fisher and Reggie Bryant on the inbounds pass, and the ball ended up with forward Chris Sloan, who sped up the floor, drew two defenders and found Drejaj alone in the corner.
"I had a 27-point game in the conference tournament last year, but this at least equals that, because I hit the game winning shot," said Drejaj, who finished with a game-high 23 points. "I knew when it left my hand that it was good, and it stood up after they reviewed it."
After trailing 29-11 in the first half the Billikens closed to within 35-26 at the break as Sloan was fouled on a drive at the horn and made 1-of-2 free throws.
The Bills kept plugging away and finally tied the game 63 on Sloan's lay-up with 2:09 remaining. After Hawkeye center Greg Brunner dunked and Pierce came up with a lay-up, the Hawks led 67-63 with 1:12 remaining.
But the Billikens have made a habit of winning close games down the stretch by coming from behind and did it again. After Drejaj hit a lay-up, he stole the ball from Hawkeye guard Jeff Horner and connected on two free throws to tie it at 67 with 23 ticks remaining.
Iowa (16-13) shot 53.2 percent from the field, 25 percent from threeland and 85 percent from the line. Guard Jeff Horner led the Hawkeyes with 17 points, Pierce finished with 16, while forward Glen Worley and center Greg Brunner each had 10 points. The Hawks dominated the glass 39-22.
Saint Louis (19-12) shot 42.4 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from the arc and 72.2 percent from the line. Sloan contributed 16 points and a team-high six rebounds. Sloan also handed matched Fisher for the team high with five assists without a turnover. Fisher and Bryant each tossed in 10 points.
"Some times when you look up and see that we've scraped together 19 wins, it's pretty amazing," Sloan said. "To keep playing at this time of the year and maybe to have another game at home, it's pretty exciting."
The Billikens will face the winner of the Notre Dame/Purdue game to be played Wednesday night. The date, place and time are still to be determined.
