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Stifling defense and sharp shooting in the second half sent Saint Louis to a 59-56 victory over Mississippi this afternoon at Scottrade Center. The Billikens erased a 13-point half-time deficit thanks to a nine-point outburst from junior Luke Meyer early in the second period, and Dwayne Polk sealed the win with a defensive rebound and a pair of free throws in the final five seconds. Sophomore Kevin Lisch netted 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.
The Billikens trimmed the halftime deficit to eight points less than three minutes into the period thanks to seven points from Meyer and a layup by Ian Vouyoukas. While the defensive clamped down on the Rebels, Lisch warmed up from behind the arc. He hit back-to-back triples to pull the Bills within a bucket at 13:46. Vouyoukas tied things up at 40-40 with a jumper in transition, and Justin Johnson gave SLU its first lead since early in the first half with an 15-foot jumper with 11:46 remaining.
Ole Miss leading scorer Bam Doyne put the Rebels back on top quickly with a 3-pointer and made it a 45-42 Rebel lead with a layup at the 10:01 mark. Two minutes later, Meyer swiped a steal and found Tommie Liddell, who fed Lisch for another triple to knot things at 45-45. The Rebels built a two-point lead on a free throw from Doyne, but Lisch forged the game's final tie with a pair from the charity stripe with 3:31 remaining.
Meyer put SLU on top 53-51 with 2:53 on the clock, and the Billiken defense forced six missed shots over the next minute of play. Liddell secured the defensive rebound on the lengthy Rebel possession, and the Billikens called timeout to set up a play, which resulted in an emphatic dunk from Liddell that brought the Scottrade Center crowd to its feet and lifted the Bills to their largest lead of the game at 55-51.
Clarence Sanders narrowed the lead to two points with a jumper, but Lisch hit two more from the free-throw line with 1:02 remaining. Todd Abernathy breathed new life into the Rebels with a closely-guarded, acrobatic 3-pointer with 46 ticks on the clock. Leading 57-56, the Billikens continued to attack the basket, but Lisch missed a layup with defenders closing in on him, giving the Rebels a final chance with 16 seconds left.
Doyne drew the call from head coach Andy Kennedy for the final shot. The Rebels' guard, who had scored 13 of the team's 22 second-half points, put up a 12-foot jumper but saw it glance of the rim. Polk skied above the big bodies inside for the rebound, then sank both free throws at the other end, his only two points of the game, to give SLU a three-point margin with just two seconds remaining. Abernathy launched the Rebels' last chance on a 3-pointer with Vouyoukas standing tall on the arc to obscure his look.
In the second half, the Billikens (10-3) out-scored the Rebels (11-3) by 16 points on 54.2 percent shooting, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range, and forged a 19-15 rebounding edge. In addition to Lisch's 18 points, Meyer added 13, and Liddell chipped in 12. Vouyoukas swatted away five shots to go with his seven points. Doyne led all scorers with 22 points along with a game-high nine rebounds.
The Billikens open Atlantic 10 play on the road at St. Bonaventure on Wed., Jan. 3, in a 6 p.m. (CT) tipoff in Olean, N.Y.
