SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. - A late first-half surge by Rhode Island keyed an 83-67 victory over Saint Louis in Atlantic 10 Conference action tonight at The Ryan Center. The Rams (16-10, 9-3 A-10) used an 18-2 run over the final seven minutes of the first half to stake a 41-23 lead and never looked back. Saint Louis (15-10, 5-6 A-10) scored 44 points in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit. The defeat overshadowed the 23-point outing of sophomore guard Tommie Liddell, who hit 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

While the Billikens struggled to score early, Liddell netted the team's first seven points to keep the Rams at bay early on. The Rams' Darnell Harris his a short jumper in the lane to push the lead to 18-9 at the 10:40 mark. Under three minutes later, the Billikens had whittled the margin down to two at 23-21. Luke Meyer battled inside for a pair of layups, which sandwiched a layup from Ian Vouyoukas. Forcing missed shots on the defensive end, the Billikens added jumpers from Meyer and Liddell, and Vouyoukas pulled the team within two with a tip-in with 7:10 left in the half.

The Rams turned up the defensive pressure, limiting the Billikens to just one basket and seven turnovers down the stretch. Meanwhile, shots began falling again and the Rams missed just three times in 10 attempts to carry a 41-23 lead into the break.

In the second half, Jimmy Barron's 3-pointer with 12:06 to go pushed the lead to a high of 22 at 56-34. Liddell went on another scoring spree over the next two minutes to pull SLU within 16, hitting a pair of jumpers a free throw and a 3-pointer. After Keith Cothran stopped the run with a layup off an offensive rebound, Kevin Lisch put the offense back on track with a 3-pointer, his first bucket of the night. Lamonte Ulmer hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 17, and Vouyoukas answered with a traditional three-point play to cut the lead back to 14 with 7:15 to play.

SLU went to an aggressive, attacking defense to disrupt the Rams, but URI handled the pressure and rebuilt its lead to as many as 19 points.

In addition to his 23 points, Liddell was tied for the team lead with five rebounds, matching the totals of Vouyoukas and Lisch. Meyer finished with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Lisch tacked on 10 points, all in the second half, and handed out three assists. The Bills shot 60.9 percent in the second half, including 50 percent (5-of-10) from 3-point range. Four Rams reached double figures, led by Will Daniels' 19.

Saint Louis returns to Scottrade Center for a 7 p.m. match-up with La Salle on Sat., Feb. 17.