Nov. 2, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - The Saint Louis Billikens took command midway through the first half and went on to register a 71-54 victory over the University of Missouri-St. Louis in an exhibition game at the Scottrade Center on Friday night.

The game featured five ties in the first eight minutes before Saint Louis put together a 17-6 run to gain its first double-digit lead. Bryce Husak's offensive rebound and layup ignited the spurt that saw Kevin Lisch score all of his 10 first-half points. Lisch hit two free throws and a jumper, Barry Eberhardt followed with a 3-pointer and Lisch punctuated the run with a pair of treys that put the Billikens on top 27-16 with 4:54 left in the first half.

Saint Louis twice expanded the margin to 14 points later in the opening stanza before settling for a 35-23 halftime lead. III scored eight points, Eberhardt tallied seven and Luke Meyer added six in a balanced offensive attack for the Billikens, who shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line while out-rebounding Missouri-St. Louis 16-9 and forcing nine turnovers in the first half.

It didn't take long for the Billikens to start pulling away in the second half. After UMSL's Paul Paradoski drilled a 3-pointer to slice the SLU lead to 37-27, Saint Louis went on a 13-2 tear that gave the Bills a 21-point cushion. Adam Knollmeyer triggered the outburst with two free throws and a layup, and Lisch hit a jumper to make it 43-27. UMSL's Jason Black briefly interrupted the SLU surge by netting two free throws, but the Billiken onslaught continued with a jumper by Eberhardt, a 3-pointer by Paul Eckerle and finally a Husak jumper that put the SLU lead at 50-29 with 13:18 remaining.

The Tritons tallied the next six points to briefly regain some life, but the Billikens scored eight of the next nine points, including two treys by Lisch, to boost their advantage to a game-high 58-36 at the 8:48 mark. Saint Louis never allowed UMSL to draw closer than 17 points the rest of the way.

Lisch led all players with 20 points. His 6-of-11 shooting performance included a 4-of-8 effort from beyond the arc, and he was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Liddell scored 14 points and Eberhardt added 12 for the Billikens, who shot 52.2 percent from the floor and finished the night with a 51.1-percent shooting accuracy. Meyer grabbed a team-high six rebounds to lead SLU to a 35-23 advantage on the glass. The Bills shot a solid 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the charity stripe.

UMSL got 15 points from Sky Frazier and 10 points from Paradoski. The Tritons were held to just 40.5 percent shooting from the field.

The Billikens open the regular season against North Carolina A&T at the Hispanic College Fund Challenge, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh, on Friday, Nov. 9. Game time is 3:30 p.m. CT.