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ST. CHARLES, MO. -- Saint Louis freshman guard Tommie Liddell drained a baseline jumper from the left side with 1.5 seconds left as the Billikens edged Massachusetts 50-48 tonight in an Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball game at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The Minutemen had one last possession, but 7-foot defensive replacement Bryce Husak, guarding the inbounds passer, tipped the ball away as the remaining time expired.
"There is no other way to put it - this was a grinder," Soderberg said. "The team has to be commended for their defense. The difference between our defensive effort in this game compared to George Washington is that we defended consistently well the entire game, instead of defending well in spurts."
After UMass opened the game with a 3-pointer, the Billikens rattled off a 9-0 run to surge into the lead six minutes in. Tommie Liddell finished on an athletic move down the right side of the lane, and Anthony Drejaj got a runner in the lane. The Billikens held the Minutemen nearly five minutes without a point, but UMass came back to retake the lead on consecutive treys near the 12-minute mark to close out their own 9-0 run.
The Bills found the range from deep as Drejaj and Lisch drained back-to-back 3-pointers for a 15-12 lead with 9:01 left in the first half. Vouyoukas scored four straight for the Bills on two free throws and a dunk for a 20-14 lead with 7:32 to play before halftime. After a UMass free throw, Vouyoukas sank a jumper in traffic for a 22-17 margin at the 6:19 mark. The Minutemen scored seven straight to retake the lead at 24-22, but Lisch converted a jumper to tie the game at 24-24. After another UMass bucket, Vouyoukas converted two free throws to knot the game at 26-26 for the score at halftime. After the dueling 9-0 runs by both teams early in the period, the first half saw four ties and four lead changes. The Billikens' tenacious defense forced the Minutemen into 13 first half turnovers.
The Billikens opened the second half with four straight points, three by Vouyoukas and one free throw by Dwayne Polk to establish a 30-26 lead after two minutes. After a UMass basket, Vouyoukas answered again for a 32-28 lead. The Billikens still led 34-30 after two more charity tosses by Vouyoukas, but the Minutemen forged a tie at 35-35 with 11:58 to play. A Danny Brown 3-pointer sparked a quick 7-0 outburst by the Billikens. Vas'Shun Newborne swished two free throws, and Liddell slithered through the lane for a bucket and a 42-35 SLU lead with just over eight minutes to play. However, the Minutemen answered with six straight points to close to 42-41 with 5:45 left in the game. Lisch provided the offense for the Billikens as he nailed two consecutive 3-pointers to push SLU up 48-44 at the 4:28 mark. UMass tied the game at 4-48 on two free throws and a jumper by Dante Milligan with 2:42 left to play. Neither team scored on its next two possessions. With under a minute left to play, UMass worked the ball down for the go-ahead points, but Vouyoukas blocked the shot and grabbed the rebound to set up Liddell's game-winning jumper.
"Tommie Liddell didn't get the best look, but it was just a great shot by a great player," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "That is a trademark of a great player."
Vouyoukas tallied a game-high 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had three blocked shots, including the crucial stop in the final minute. Kevin Lisch hit 3-of-4 from beyond the arc en route to 14 points. Jeff Viggiano led the Minutemen with 15 points but was the only UMass player in double-figures. Stephane Lasme finished with seven blocked shots for UMass.
Saint Louis (8-7, 2-1) goes on the road to face Richmond on Wed., Jan. 18. The Billikens improved to 3-0 all-time at the Family Arena. UMass suffered its first conference loss and drops to 7-5, 2-1 in the A-10.
