ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis junior center Ian Vouyoukas poured in a career-high 27 points as the Billikens completed a regular-season sweep of Rhode Island with a 73-62 victory tonight in an Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball game at Savvis Center. Vouyoukas posted his fifth double-double of the season by making 17-of-18 free throws and grabbing 10 rebounds.

"Ian was in foul trouble in the game at URI and couldn't really show what he can do, but he put it all on display tonight," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "Other than Rhode Island's starting center (Jon Clark), Ian has a size advantage on their other frontcourt players, and he just wears on them with his size."

Playing an uneven first half and trailing by as many as seven, Saint Louis still managed a 32-31 lead at the break as freshman guard Kevin Lisch drove for a lay-up as time expired. The Rams scored the first five points of the game as URI leading scorer Dawan Robinson buried a triple and forward Will Daniels scored in close. The Bills had trouble with URI in the lane as the Rams out-scored the Bills 18-10 in the paint in the opening session and consistently lost freshman shooting guard Jimmy Baron, who fired in 12 points on 80 percent (4-5) shooting including 67 percent (2-3) from the arc.

SLU trailed 22-15 after a Baron jumper with 5:47 remaining in the first half, but crept back in front on freshman guard Tommie Liddell's two free throws. URI answered with forward Kim Seawright's stickback and Baron's deep trey from the right side. SLU closed the half with a 7-2 run, and senior guard Anthony Drejaj's steal set up the final possession that led to Lisch's scoring drive.

The Billikens hit the Rams with 7-0 burst to start the second half and create some breathing room. Vouyoukas sandwiched a pair of free throws and a traditional three-point play around a Liddell jumper in the rally. SLU pushed the lead to 11 on Drejaj's threeball out of the left corner with 15:27 to play and kept that manageable working margin for the next 10 minutes.

"We seemed to have a little bit more energy at the beginning of the second half," Soderberg said. "But that seems to happen when we get stops. We take that momentum to the offensive end of the floor."

URI trailed by 59-49 with 6:18 remaining when the Rams implemented a half-court trap that gave the Bills problems. URI's Robinson drained a jumper to pull the Rams to 60-57 at the 2:48 mark, but Vouyoukas answered with two free throws. After Robinson fouled out on a charge, Lisch hit a deep three off the left wing out of a scramble as the shot clock wound down to push the SLU edge to 65-57, and the Bills converted 6-of-8 free throws to close the game.

Baron paced Rhode Island (12-12, 6-7) with 16 points, while Robinson chipped in with 15. Forwards Jamaal Wise and Seawright tossed in 12 and 11, respectively. The Rams shot 38.6 percent from the floor, 25 percent from the arc and 88.2 percent from the free throw line.

Lisch tossed in 14 points, while Drejaj contributed 10. Liddell enjoyed another solid all-around game with seven points, nine boards and four assists without a turnover. The Bills shot 39.6 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from deep and 78.9 percent from the line. SLU out-rebounded the Rams 37-31.

Now in sole possession of third place in the A-10, Saint Louis (15-10, 9-4) challenges second-place Charlotte on Sat., Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. (CT).