Kingston, R.I. - Saint Louis withstood a late Rhode Island surge to knock off the Rams 58-53 tonight in an Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball game at the Ryan Center. The Billikens finally snapped their streak of alternating wins and losses that reached 21 dating back to last season.
"We haven't had that kind of lead in a road game this year, and I don't think our young guys were sure how to handle it, but we showed a lot of heart and survived," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "Kevin Lisch did a tremendous job on (URI leading scorer) Dawan Robinson, and we won the game with defense down the stretch."
With junior center Ian Vouyoukas and freshman guard Tommie Liddell combining for only two points in the first half and seven for the game as both were saddled with foul trouble, the Billikens enjoyed one of their most effective halves of the season as SLU built a 36-23 halftime edge. The Bills quickly surged to a 9-2 lead as senior guard Anthony Drejaj contributed five points with a pair of free throws and the first of his three treys in the opening session.
URI trailed 22-15 when the Rams used a five-point trip to climb back into the game as they relentlessly crashed the offensive glass. After forward Terrance Mack made his first free throw but missed the second, URI grabbed the rebound, and forward Kahiem Seawright got the stickback and Liddell's second foul. Seawright missed the toss that would have converted the traditional 3-point play, but URI again chased down the miss, and Mack scored off a spin move from the left block. URI closed to within 22-20, but Drejaj drilled another threeball, and the Bills closed the half on a 14-3 run with sophomore guard Danny Brown burying a triple at the horn.
The Billikens continued their efficient offensive display in the early moments of the second half, and Brown's deep three out of the left corner pushed the lead to 47-32 at the 14:11 mark. The Bills maintained a double-digit lead for most of the half and still led 57-47 with 4:46 left after two Lisch free throws. But SLU went dry offensively the rest of the way except for Lisch's free throw with 16 seconds left. SLU survived late Rams 3-point attempts and came away with its second A-10 road win of the season.
Forwards Will Daniels and Terrence Mach each scored 13 points to lead Rhode Island (11-8, 5-3). Robinson was averaging 15.6 ppg, but scored only seven while being hounded by Lisch. The Rams shot 32.3 percent from the field, 6.7 percent (1-15) from the arc and 63.2 percent from the free throw line. The Rams out-rebounded the Bills 38-36, including 19 offensive rebounds that URI converted into 23 second-chance points.
"We didn't do anything particular against Robinson other than making sure we got back, so he didn't get anything in transition," Lisch said. "I just tried to play him tight and attack him defensively. Tonight, we were fortunate that it went our way."
Lisch matched his career high with 18 points, and Drejaj chipped in with 14. SLU shot 44.2 percent from the field, 53.3 percent from the arc and 80 percent from the line. Although Liddell had a career-low one point, he topped the Bills with nine rebounds. Drejaj had a game-high six assists.
Saint Louis (11-9, 5-3) hosts Xavier at Savvis Center on Super Bowl Sunday in a 1 p.m. start.
