St. Louis - Kevin Lisch hit five free throws in the final minute as Saint Louis overcame a nine-point Southern Illinois lead to rally for a thrilling 56-51 victory on Saturday night at Scottrade Center. Luke Meyer hit a crucial 3-pointer with just over one minute left to play in the game, and III drew an important charging call to key the Billiken comeback. The Billiken defense gave up only three points over the final eight minutes.
The Billikens stretched a one-point halftime lead to six at the 16:14 mark, their largest of the evening. Meyer scored on a layup, and Liddell drained a jumper. After one SIU free throw, Liddell scored again to push the Billikens on top by a 34-28 count. SLU still led 36-32 before the Salukis got hot from beyond the arc and went on a 16-3 run. The Salukis hit four treys to fuel the run and open up their largest lead of the evening at 48-39 with 8:35 left in the game. Lisch hit a jumper, and Liddell's shot cut the lead to 48-43. Matt Shaw sank another trey for SIU to push the Salukis on top 51-43 with 4:17 left in the contest. Lisch drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to answer and give SLU a huge lift. Liddell converted two charity tosses as SLU drew to 51-48 with 2:46 remaining. The Billikens finally knotted the score at 51-51 when Meyer swished a trey from the right corner. SIU turned the ball over, and Lisch hit both ends of a one-and-one to give the Billikens the lead with 43 seconds left. On the next Saluki possession, SIU looked inside, but Liddell drew a charge call with 20 seconds remaining in the game. Lisch went to the line and hit the first free throw but misfired on the next. SIU looked to tie, but the Salukis stepped out of bounds. SIU again fouled Lisch, and the junior sealed the win with two free throws with nine seconds left on the clock.
The Billikens opened the game with a flourish as Kevin Lisch drained a jumper from the top of the key to open the game. III spun on the right baseline and flew in for an emphatic two-handed dunk as the Billikens went up 6-2. Lisch and Bryce Husak scored on consecutive trips as the Billikens stayed hot from the field. Liddell drained a 3-pointer as the SLU advantage grew to 13-8 as the Billikens hit five of their first nine shots seven minutes into the game.
However, the Billikens' offense stalled as the Salukis scored eight straight points to edge ahead. SIU led by as many as seven points with just under five minutes left in the first half at 23-16. The Billikens responded with a rush. Danny Brown hit two free throws, and Danny Brown tracked down a loose ball and put up a shot from the right that hit the rim, bounced off the backboard and spun in to put the Billikens put 24-23 at intermission.
Lisch led the Billikens with 20 points, while Liddell added 16 points. The junior duo combined to shoot 12-of-17 from the field. Lisch also had four assists and did not commit a turnover. Matt Shaw led the Salukis (4-4) with 21 points. The Billikens shot 68.8 percent in the second half (11-of-16) and finished the night hitting 19-of-37 from the field (51.4 percent).
The Billikens (7-5) play the third game of a four-contest home stand when they host Loyola (Chicago) on Wednesday, Dec. 19, for a 7 p.m. game.
