CHICAGO (AP) - Saint Louis senior center Ian Vouyoukas hit both ends of a 1-and-1 with five seconds remaining to finish with 14 points and seal a 67-64 win at Loyola University Chicago tonight. The Billikens overcame a 30-36 halftime deficit with 46.9 percent shooting in the second period as Vouyoukas posted his second double-double in as many games. Kevin Lisch led the Bills with 15 points and five assists, while Vouyoukas' 12 rebounds were a game high.
The Billikens weathered the storm in the first half as turnovers and difficulty on the defensive glass helped the Ramblers hold the lead for all but the first two minutes of the game. After Dwayne Polk put SLU up one with a pair of free throws at 18:06, Loyola hit the next six points in just over a minute's time. Tom Levin's 3-pointer at 12:17 pushed the lead to 10, and the Ramblers held off mini-run by the Bills to hold the double-digit lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the period.
A layup and a free throw from Tommie Liddell and a driving layup from Luke Meyer cut the lead in half with 6:25 in the period. Another layup from Meyer with just under five minutes left brought the Bills within three at 30-27. After Loyola's lead grew to five on a pair of Blake Schilb free throws, Liddell hit another free throw and Danny Brown drove to the goal to bring SLU to 32-30 at the 2:20 mark. SLU struggled with possession in the final minute of the half, however, and Majak Kou hit a pair of layups in the closing moments for a 36-30 Loyola lead.
A scoring draught opened the second half as the team's traded just one basket in the first 2:23. The Billikens got on track first with Vouyoukas leading the way on the defensive glass to hold the Ramblers to just one shot. On the other end, meanwhile, Lisch hit a jumper and Meyer laid in another basket to set up Dwayne Polks' layup, which tied the game 38-38 with 16:15 to go. From there, the game endured an array of momentum swings.
Cortney Horton's layup at 13:50 ended a nearly four minute scoreless stretch for Loyola. The Billikens answered quickly, though, and finally surged ahead on a Justin Johnson jumper at 13:06. Andy Polka's 3-point play put the Ramblers back on top 43-42 with 12:16 on the clock, and Brown hit a 3-pointer for a 45-43 Billiken lead.
Schilb knotted things up at 45-45 at 10:03, setting up the run to the Billikens' biggest lead of the night. Lisch hit his lone 3-pointer of the game at 9:34, and Liddell hit a layup in transition for a 50-45 SLU lead. Schilb's 3-pointer cut the lead to two points, but Brown answered with a triple of his own 30 seconds later. Schilb responded with the Ramblers' next six points, scoring a mid-range jumper, a free throw and a 3-pointer to put Loyola up 56-55 with 5:32 left in the contest.
Vouyoukas, who was a teammate of Schilb's at this summer's NBA Pre-Draft Camp, followed with a traditional three-point play to put the Bills back on top. Loyola tied the game twice more in the next 90 seconds, and again it was Vouyoukas who had the answer, hitting a pair of layups within 30 seconds of each other.
With the rowdy student section behind them, the Ramblers would not go away quietly, however. Leon Young drove the lane for a layup to cut the lead to two with 95 seconds remaining. Meyer left the door open when he hit just one of two free throws at 1:04, and Majak Kou's layup moments later made it a one-point game.
The Ramblers pressed to get the ball back, and, while the Billikens eluded defenders in the backcourt, Schilb got Loyola its turnover near the Billikens' basket. In a rush to grab the lead, however, he launched a long pass that Polk raced to pick off and prevent a potential go-ahead basket.
Forced to foul, the Ramblers took a swipe at Lisch in the backcourt, sending the 79.4 percent free throw shooter to the line with 13 ticks on the clock. The Billikens' scoring leader missed the front end of the 1-and-1, and J.R. Blount won the rebound battle. As Blount drove down court, Liddell was called for a foul, giving the Ramblers a chance to tie and win the game at the line.
Blount mimicked Lisch, however, and missed the front end of the 1-and-1. Vouyoukas came down with the rebound and was immediately fouled. Despite difficulty at the charity stripe against Houston, the senior calmly hit both free throws to push the lead to three. With five seconds left on the clock, Loyola looked to set up Schilb but his 25-footer rimmed out at the buzzer.
The Billikens had four players in double figures as Liddell's 11 and Brown's 10 added to the efforts of Vouyoukas and Lisch. Vouyoukas finished the night 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Johnson grabbed seven rebounds and recorded a pair of dramatic blocked shots on one sequence late in the second half.
Saint Louis (5-1) is back in action on Sat., Dec. 2, at Southern Illinois in a 2 p.m. tipoff.
