NEW YORK -Saint Louis got another 20-point game from sophomore Tommie Liddell but could not power past Fordham, falling to the Rams 77-68 in Atlantic 10 action at Rose Hill Gym this afternoon. Liddell, who finished with a game-high 22 points and tied Ian Vouyoukas for game-high rebounding honors with eight, tried to get his teammates on track with seven assists as well. The Billikens (12-7, 2-4 A-10) battled back from a half-time deficit to knot the game with 16:15 left in the second half only to see the Rams (11-7, 4-2 A-10) go on a 17-7 run over the next six minutes to regain control of the contest.
SLU trailed by as many as 10 in the first half before narrowing the game to five at the break. Vouyoukas hit a pair of free throws, Danny Brown connected on a 3-pointer and Liddell added a layup during the closing minutes of the first period.
A transition bucket gave Fordham a 37-30 lead early in the second period before the Billikens went on a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Brown and a pair of buckets from Vouyoukas, the last of which knotted the game at 37-37 with 17:38 on the clock. The game was played in the paint over the next few minutes as Vouyoukas and Fordham's Bryant Dunston exchanged baskets on low-post moves. Dunston's final bucket in the series gave the Rams a 43-41 lead and drew Vouyoukas' third foul, forcing the Billiken center to the bench.
SLU held the deficit under five on Brown's 3-pointer and a runner in the lane from Dwayne Polk, which pulled the Bills within two at 48-46. Polk forced a steal on the ensuing Fordham possession, starting a fast break that could again tie the game, but the Rams scrambled back to force a turnover and rebuild their lead. Chris Bethel became the star during the stint as he hit a 3-pointer and completed a traditional three-point play to push the lead to 10 with 10:25 remaining.
As the Billikens looked for another offensive run, their defense saw the Rams hit big shots with the shot clock winding down. Luke Meyer hit a triple from the right corner to cut the lead to nine at 9:12, and his driving, whirling layup with 5:34 narrowed the margin to seven with 5:34 on the clock. Yet, again, the Rams stepped up when it counted most with Brenton Butler hitting his third 3-pointer of the game to get the lead back to 10. After Liddell twice closed the gap to nine points, Marcus Stout lined up his fourth triple of the game as the shot clock wound down to push the lead back to 12 with 1:31 left.
Over the final 90 seconds, SLU looked to make up ground by sending Fordham to the free throw line, but the Rams were on target from that range as well, hitting 6-of-8 when the game was still in the balance.
With 22 points, Liddell posted his sixth-straight 20-point game. Vouyoukas tallied a season-high 18 points to go with his eight rebounds. Meyer joined the pair in double figures with 13 and six rebounds. The Billikens shot 49.1 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Rams 31-26, including 10-5 on the offensive glass. Five Rams reached double figures in points with Stout pacing the team at 17 and Chris Bethel adding 16 off the bench.
Saint Louis returns to the Scottrade Center on Thu., Jan. 25, to face Charlotte before playing its next two games on the road.
