ST. LOUIS- UAB forward Ernest Little blocked Saint Louis guard Luke Meyer's jumper as time expired and the Blazers slipped past the Billikens 64-62 tonight in a Conference USA men's basketball game at Savvis Center. Blazer guard Donell Taylor poured in a career high 27 points as UAB snapped a four-game losing streak.
"Our missed free throws and turnovers down the stretch are indicative of a young team," said Billiken head coach Brad Soderberg , who watched his club lose for the eighth time by less than four points or in overtime. "But we fought, played hard, and we again lost a close game. It's extremely frustrating, because none of us has ever experienced anything like this."
After Saint Louis had built a 57-54 lead on freshman guard Danny Brown's short pop in the lane, UAB guard Marvett McDonald tied the game with a 3-pointer late in the shot clock. After a questionable charging call on Billiken forward Vas'Shun Newborne that drew the wrath of the crowd and the Billiken bench, UAB guard Squeaky Johnson scored on a lay-up. The Blazers stripped SLU guard Dwayne Polk in the backcourt as the crowd and the SLU bench howled for yet another foul that went uncalled, UAB's Paul Delaney dunked off the steal to complete the 7-0 run.
The Billikens' errant free throw shooting then doomed SLU down the stretch. Polktwice went 1-of-2 at the stripe sandwiched around sophomore center Ian Vouyoukas' 1-of-2. Nevertheless, Saint Louis trailed 63-60 with 58 seconds remaining. After Vouyoukas buried a fadeway jumper from the left wing, the Bills immediately fouled Taylor. With 10 seconds left, the Blazer guard made the first toss, but missed the second. Meyer rebounded the shot, dribbled up the floor, drifted to the left side and had his shot blocked by Little.
"There wasn't a called play, because we didn't have any timeouts left," Polk said. "But we knew that we needed to penetrate and kick to an open man or try to take it in for a lay-up."
In a back-and-forth first half that featured 10 lead changes, UAB emerged with a 31-30 lead at the break. The Blazers built their largest lead at 17-12 on Demario Eddins' lay-up, but the Billikens reclaimed the lead 22-20 on forward Izik Ohanon's jump hook from the left of the lane. The teams exchanged the lead until UAB again surged ahead 31-27 on Taylor's lay-up, but SLU closed the gap on Brown's trey to provide the halftime score. Ohanon paced the Bills with 10 first-half points on 5-of-5 shooting, but Taylor was 4-of-6 from 3-point distance on his way to 14 points in the half.
Johnson was the only other Blazer in double figures with 10 points. Little came off the bench to give the Blazers six points and a career-high eight boards. UAB (17-9, 7-6) shot 45.8 percent from the field, 45 percent from the arc and 57.9 percent from the free throw line. UAB used its fullcourt pressure defense to force 16 SLU turnovers that it converted into 21 points. But the Billikens also forced UAB into 16 turnovers that SLU turned into 17 points.
Ohanon made all six of his shots to finish with 12 points. Newborne matched his career high with 12 points and added a career-high eight boards. Vouyoukas also finished with 12 points. The Bills shot 48.9 percent from the field, 16.7 percent (3-18) from deep and 62.5 percent from the line. Senior guard Reggie Bryant returned to action after missing four games on a leave of absence, but showed the rust with two points on 1-of-6 from the field. .
The Billikens (7-19, 4-9) travel to DePaul for a noon tip at Allstate Arena on Sat., Feb. 26.
