Pittsburgh, Pa. - For the first time in nine years, Saint Louis placed six players in double-figure scoring as the Billikens cruised 91-56 victory over Houston Baptist in day two of play at the Hispanic College Fund Challenge on the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center. III led the way with 15 points, while Bryce Husak, Kevin Lisch and Marcus Relphorde all scored 14. Paul Eckerle finished with 11, and Luke Meyer added 10. The last time six SLU players scored at least 10 points in the same game was against Evansville on Nov. 27, 1998.
The Billikens started quickly and scored the first five points of the game. Bryce Husak took control inside. He powered up for two straight hoops and snared an offensive rebound for a put back.
Meyer scored on a layup for a nine-point Billiken lead at 17-9 at the 14-minute mark. The Billikens held HBU scoreless for over three minutes and strung together a 6-0 burst. A Lisch hoop put the Billikens up into a double-digit lead midway through the half. Lisch and Eberhardt alternated four baskets in a row for the Billikens as they took their largest lead of the game at 31-17 with just over six minutes left in the half. The Billikens kept a comfortable margin, and they capped the first 20 minutes when Husak drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner just before the buzzer for a 41-26 lead. The Billikens ended the half shooting 53.1 percent from the half (17-of-32).
Eberhardt and Meyer scored on SLU's first two possessions of the second half as the Billikens pulled to a 45-26 lead. A score by Lisch gave the Billikens their first 20-point lead of the evening five minutes into the period. III drained a mid-range jumper as SLU built its largest lead of the game at 23 points, 61-38. The Huskies scored six straight points to cut into the Billiken lead, but Liddell drained back-to-back treys to rebuild the SLU advantage.
The 91 points scored by the Billikens is the most since tallying 92 against DePaul on Jan. 8, 2002. In addition, the output was the highest away from home since posting 92 at Murray State on Dec. 18, 1993. The Billikens blazed the nets at a 57.9 percent clip, nailing 33-of-57 shots from the field, including 16-of-25 in the second half. Husak's 14 points was a career high, and he tied his career best with six rebounds. Liddell tallied 12 of his points after halftime, and Relphorde tallied 10 after intermission. Lisch enjoyed another strong shooting night hitting 6-of-9 from the field. For Houston Baptist, Kevin Amend and Andy Dillon led the Huskies with 11 points. SLU held HBU to just 33.3 percent shooting (18-of-54).
The Billikens (2-0) take on host and No. 22 Pittsburgh (2-0) on Sunday for a 5 p.m. (CT) game. The contest will air in the St. Louis area on Charter Communications' CCIN and on FSN Pittsburgh.
