Nov. 9, 2005

Final Stats

St. Louis - Saint Louis overwhelmed Missouri-St. Louis 102-67 in a men's exhibition basketball game tonight at Savvis Center. Guards Dwayne Polk and Danny Brown each threw in 19 points as the Billikens put seven players in double figures. It was the exhibition opener for the Billikens, while the Riverman fall to 0-3 in their exhibition slate.

"That was a good start, but it wasn't perfect," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "We accomplished the three goals that we set for tonight - win the game, get everybody in and have our newly designed offense be effective."

The aggressive Billikens pushed the tempo in the first half to blow out to a 54-28 lead with 2:26 remaining in the half. At one point, SLU was shooting 70 percent from the floor and finished the half at 57.6 percent. Junior center Ian Vouyoukas was unstoppable in the paint as he poured in 14 points in just 13 minutes. Senior guard Anthony Drejaj knocked down 5-of-6 shots for 12 first half points, and Polk collected 10 points and handed out four assists in the first frame. The Bills also controlled the glass with 20-11 margin in the opening session.

It was much of the same in the second stanza as the Billikens opened up to a 34-point lead with 10:30 to play after Brown drilled two free throws. SLU shot an impressive 63 percent from the floor as a team and converted on 11 of its13 free throws in the half. SLU's big men were too much for the Rivermen to handle, as the Bills outscored the Riverman 59-8 in the paint and finished with a 36-23 advantage on the boards.

A sophomore guard, Brown was the most efficient shooter for the Bills, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Freshman guard Tommie Liddell turned in an impressive Billiken debut, finishing one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine boards. Vouyoukas finished the game with 16 points in just 15 minutes, and Drejaj ended with 12. Freshman guard Kevin Lisch and senior forward Vas'Shun Newbourne each netted 10. The Bills piled up 23 assists against just 12 turnovers.

UMSL's Jonathan Griffin led all scorers with 21 points. Aaron Jackson finished 11 points and Troy Slaten finished with 10. The Rivermen shot 39.1 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers.

The Billikens conclude their exhibition season by hosting Maryville University on Mon., Nov. 14, for a 7 p.m. tip-off.