ST. LOUIS - Undermanned Saint Louis stormed back from a 20-point second-half deficit to stun Houston 72-69 in overtime tonight in a Conference USA men's basketball game before 9,117 fans at Savvis Center. Senior guard Phillip Hunt's tip-in at the horn sent the game to OT, and the Bills scored the first six points in the extra session to put it away.
"What a story book night it was for Phillip Hunt'," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "He gave us great defense on the ball, and then to make that play to send it to overcome was simply amazing."
Saint Louis was playing without leading rebounder Tom Frericks (shoulder Injury) and leading scorer Reggie Bryant (family illness). The Billikens came out shooting ice cold as the Bills didn't score until the 13:54 mark when senior forward Chris Sloan drained a trey. SLU made only one of its first nine shots and snot only 28.6 percent for the half. Meanwhile, the Cougars shot 50 percent (5-10) from the arc to build a 29-17 first half lead. It was the Bills' lowest scoring half of the season.
"It was difficult playing without Reggie and Tom, and it took us some time to figure out who was going to get the shots and where," Fisher said. "But one thing I've learned is that you never give up, keep fighting and good things can happen."
After Cougars guard Brian Shelton buried a triple, Houston led 43-23 with 11:41 to play. The Bills grimly hung in and turned on the full-court pressure after Sloan's free throws cut the deficit to 45-30 at the 8:04 mark. As Houston began to throw the ball away, SLU cut the margin to 45-38 on Izik Ohanon's twisting lay-up underneath the basket with 6:12 to play.
After another UH turnover, Ohanon's turnaround jumper in the lane was rejected by Cougars center Anwar Ferguson and Shelton buried another trey. When Ferguson tipped in his own missed shot to boost UH to a 52-40 lead with 4:01 left, the Cougars appeared to be safe.
But the Bills hit UH with a quick flurry as Hunt buried a jumper. Fisher found Sloan for a fast break lay-in, and Sloan blocked UH forward Aaron Anderson's lay-up that resulted in a three-ball for SLU guard Anthony Drejaj. Suddenly, SLU trailed 52-47 with 2:29 left. UH still led 56-51 after Ohanon's two free throws with 1:05 remaining.
Ramon Dyer and Lanny Smith each drained a pair of free throws to seemingly nail it down as UH pushed its lead to 60-51 with 50 ticks left. But Ohanon answered with a quick lay-up. Hunt stole the ball, and Drejaj connected on two free throws after a UH foul on his drive to the basket. Again, SLU moved back to within 60-55 with 41 seconds left.
UH's Dyer then opened the door by missing two free throws, and freshman guard Darren Clarke buried his first three-point goal since December to pull SLU to within 60-58 with 28 seconds left. After a quick SLU foul, UH leading scorer Andre Owens made only 1-of-2 free throws, and the Bills' Fisher quickly got a lay-up at the other end. SLU trailed 61-60 and 24 seconds remained.
After another quick SLU foul, UH's Ferguson made only 1-of-2 tosses, and the Bills had a wild last possession. Fisher drove to the goal, but missed a runner. Clarke rebounded, and his turn-around was sent back by UH's Ferguson. Fisher tracked down the loose ball near the center circle and fired a desperate trey. Hunt tracked down the air-ball, jumped up and tossed it in off glass in one motion as the horn sounded.
"I saw `Fish' fumble the ball, and I could see that when he let it go that it was coming right to me," Hunt said. "I tried to jump as high as I could and tip it to the basket, and it went in. Then I looked at the referee and he counted it. I'll never forget this."
Ohanon started the overtime with a jumper to give Saint Louis its first lead of the game. Fisher and Varner each nailed a pair of free throws, and the Bills opened a 68-62 advantage and held off a late Cougars flurry.
"These guys are a far more resilient bunch that we give them credit for," Soderberg said. "There were times tonight when I didn't think we'd score 30. But they kept battling, found ways to score and gutted out a win."
Sloan topped the Bills with 21 points. Fisher added 15 points, a team-high eight rebounds and six assists. Ohanon contributed 18 points. The Bills shot 37 percent from the field, 20.8 percent from three and 77.1 percent from the line.
Ferguson paced Houston (9-17, 3-12) with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The loss knocked the Cougars out of the C-USA postseason tournament. The Cougars shot 42.1 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from the arc and 68.4 percent from the line. UH committed 14 costly second-half turnovers on their way to 19 for the game that led to 21 SLU points.
Saint Louis (16-11, 9-7) opens play in the first round of the Kelly Tires Conference USA postseason tournament as the No. 7 seed on Wed., Mar. 10, at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena. The opponent and game time are still to be determined.
