Quotes
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis sophomore guard Kevin Lisch (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) poured in a career-high 28 points to lead the Billikens to a 76-63 triumph over the Charlotte 49ers in Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball action Thursday night at Scottrade Center. Lisch hit 9-of-13 from the floor, including a career-high five 3-pointers, to help the Billikens improve to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in league play. Sophomore guard Tommie Liddell (East St. Louis, Ill.) added 16, but ended his string of six-straight 20-point games.
The Billikens fell behind early, but reeled off 12 straight points to gain control. Lisch hit two 3-pointers early on, and Liddell and junior guard Dwayne Polk (St. Louis, Mo./Vashon) contributed to the early scoring punch, which put the Bills up 12-5 seven minutes into the contest.
Baskets from senior forward Justin Johnson (Merrillville, Ind.), Lisch and senior center Ian Vouyoukas (Athens, Greece) put the Billikens up nine midway through the first half, but Charlotte roared back thanks to its shooting from the perimeter. The 49ers, who lead the A-10 by a wide margin in 3-point attempts, scored on four-straight 3-pointers and limited their deficit to no more than four during the final five minutes of the half. They pulled to within one late, but a dunk from Johnson at the horn gave the Billikens a 32-29 advantage at halftime.
Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire hit a 3-pointer at the 16:23 mark of the second half to give the 49ers a 40-39 advantage, their first lead since the initial minutes of the game. SLU answered when a slam by Johnson and a jumper from Liddell put the Billikens up by three, but E.J. Drayton and Goldwire each connected on layups to put Charlotte on top once again.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Liddell hit one of his two 3-pointers at the 10:27 mark to put the Bills on top for good 53-46 with 10 minutes left in the contest. A 7-0 run, which was punctuated by a Lisch to Liddell alley-oop, put the Billikens up by 12 with five minutes left. They never looked back, connected on enough of its free-throws down the stretch to cruise to the 13 point victory.
Lisch bested his previous career-high of 27, which was done twice. In addition to his efficient shooting from the floor, he was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, hauled in four rebounds and dished out four assists. Liddell finished 7-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-4 from long range. He brought down five boards and posted four assists. Vouyoukas added 14 points and tied for the team high with six rebounds. Johnson tied a career high with 12 points, which included 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. Junior forward Luke Meyer (Washington, Mo./Borgia) contributed six boards, and junior swingman Danny Brown (Houston, Texas) dished out a game-high six assists.
SLU shot 55 percent from the floor, including a 39 percent clip from 3-point land. The 49ers, who were led by Drayton's 19 points, shot 39 percent from the field and were forced into 11 turnovers.
Saint Louis takes a break from conference action when it travels to face Houston on Mon., Jan. 29, in a 7 p.m. tip. SLU resumes conference play on Thu., Feb. 1, in a game at Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia, which will be televised on ESPN2.
