St. Louis, Mo. - No. 17 Dayton scored the first eight points of overtime to hold off an upset bid by the Saint Louis Billikens 68-57 on Saturday evening at Scottrade Center. The contest was the Atlantic 10 Conference home opener for the Billikens.

Two consecutive jumpers by Luke Meyer pushed the Billikens to an early 4-3 advantage. The Flyers led 9-6, but a 3-pointer by Tommie Liddell III tied the game at 9-9. Dayton built a five-point lead at 19-14, and SLU answered again with a jumper by Meyer and a deep trey by Kevin Lisch to forge another tie at 19-19. The Flyers again built a five-point margin, but the Billikens sank six consecutive free throws to surge ahead 27-26 with 93 seconds left in the first half.

Brian Roberts scored four straight points for the Flyers as UD took a three-point lead, but Lisch swished a 3-pointer from the top just before halftime to knot the game 30-30 at the break. Both teams shot the ball well from the field, as they made 50.0 percent apiece. Meyer scored 11 in the first half for the Billikens, while Roberts led UD with a dozen.

The Flyers hit a trey to open the second half, but Liddell hit back-to-back jumpers to put the Billikens up 34-33. UD answered with a basket, but Meyer nailed a jumper and a layup as the Billikens went up 38-35 with 14:25 left in the game. Defense ruled for the next four minutes as neither team scored until a UD hoop at the 10:30 mark. The teams traded the lead and the game was tied 43-43 with 8:19 left in the game.

Roberts sank a jumper, but Liddell answered for the Billikens as the game was tied at 49-49 with just under five minutes left. Meyer's shot from just inside the arc put the Billikens up 51-49, but Roberts again had the answer for the Flyers. Kurt Huelsman was fouled and hit both free throws, but Lisch did the same for the Billikens to create a 53-53 tie with 2:34 left in the contest. Roberts hit both charity tosses with just over two minutes to play. On SLU's next trip, Lisch was fouled and hit two free throws to create the 12th tie of the night at 55-55 with 1:46 remaining. The Flyers missed on their next trip, but the Billikens also misfired. The Flyers had two shots to win the game in regulation, but Lisch's defense on Roberts forced the senior guard to put up a difficult chance which came up short to force overtime.

The Billikens won the tip to begin overtime, but missed on their chance. Charles Little scored on a layup, and after a SLU turnover, scored on a backdoor play. After a Billiken trey did not find the mark, Roberts' trey put the Flyers in control by seven with two minutes left. Liddell's driving layup cut the lead to 63-57, but the Flyers hit five of six free throws to hold on.

Luke Meyer led the Billikens with 19 points, one shy of his career best, tied his career high with eight field goals and led the team with six rebounds. III added 18 points, while Kevin Lisch chipped in 13. Brian Roberts topped the Flyers with 30, while Charles Little contributed 16.

The Billikens fall to 9-7 overall, 0-2 in the A-10. The Flyers have won 13 straight and improve to 14-1, 2-0 in the A-10. The Billikens host No. 20 Rhode Island on Thursday, January 17, in a 7 p.m. conference game.