OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) - Saint Louis suffered at 74-69 loss in its Atlantic 10 Conference opener at St. Bonaventure tonight, despite shooting 50 percent from the field, including 52.6 percent from 3-point range. The Billikens saw Zarryon Fereti pour in 19 points in the first half to lead the Bonnies to a 10-point lead at the intermission. SLU knotted the game four times in the second period, but could not claim a lead. The loss negated the 23-point outing of Tommie Liddell, while senior Ian Vouyoukas added 17 points and six rebounds for SLU.

The Billikens started the game slowly on the offensive end, while Fereti provided fireworks for the Bonnies on the other end of the floor. The junior guard, who went scoreless in St. Bona's last outing at Syracuse, hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range, while Michael Lee added 10 points and seven rebounds to lead the Bonnies to the halftime advantage.

SLU mounted what has become its regular comeback early in the second half. Vouyoukas hit a layup to start a 10-point run that tied the game at 41-41 with 14:19 remaining. Luke Meyer added five points to the rally, including a traditional three-point play off his steal to pull the Bills withing three. Liddell capped the effort with a triple.

The teams traded jumpers, free throws and 3-pointers over the next three minutes, with SLU's Danny Brown provided the final 3-pointer at 11:41 to tie things up at 48-48. Lee sparked a seven-point St. Bona run as the Bills turned the ball over and missed on a jumper and a layup.

Following a timeout, Liddell looked to answer the Bonnies' run with one of his own, driving for a layup out of the break and hitting the fourth of his five 3-pointers in the game to cut the lead to 57-53 with 8:12 remaining. The deficit grew back to nine before Vouyoukas hit his second 3-pointer of the season and Lisch converted a layup off the fast break to pull within four at 64-60 with 3:39 on the clock.

After layups at either end, St. Bona led again by six, but saw a Vouyoukas free throw and a Liddel 3-pointer slice the lead to two at the 1:40 mark. Following a Bonnies' timeout, the Billikens set up pressure defense, and Dwayne Polk got the steal. Racing down the floor with a chance to tie, his hard-fought layup rimmed out and Liddell was called for traveling on the rebound. SLU made a final push on Kevin Lisch's 3-pointer from the right baseline, which made it a 72-69 game with 15 seconds left, but the Bonnies converted a pair of free throws at the other end and smothered the 3-point line on the Bills' final possession.

SLU was 10-of-19 from 3-point range, including a career-best 5-of-6 from Liddell. Meyer led the team with eight rebounds while added 12 points to the cause. Lisch rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. Fereti's 26 points led all scorers, and Leed paced the club with a game-high nine rebounds to go with his 19 points.

The Billikens (10-4, 0-1 A-10) open a three-game homestand on Sat., Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. at Scottrade Center.