ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis rallied from an 18-point deficit and topped North Carolina A&T 60-52 Friday night in a non-conference basketball game at Chaifetz Arena. It is the largest come-from-behind win for the Billikens since they came back from a 20-point deficit against Houston on March 5, 2004.
III led the Billikens and sparked the second-half rally with a team-high 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half of play. Willie Reed chipped in with 12 points, including a crucial bucket with 32 seconds left to put SLU up three, while Brian Conklin supplied a game-high nine rebounds.
Liddell's bucket early in the game moved him into the top 10 on SLU's all-time scoring list. He moved past Joe Wiley for 10th place and is 18 points shy of reaching the legendary Ed Macauley for ninth.
It was a tale of two halves for Saint Louis, which improves to 9-5 with the victory. SLU shot just 21 percent from the field in the first half, but bounced back in the second half to shoot 40 percent and come all the back from a 33-15 deficit with 2:39 left in the first half.
Liddell scored 12 of the Billikens' first 14 points in the second half as SLU trimmed its deficit to nine points with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Liddell nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the spurt. The other field goal was an alley-oop from Barry Eberhardt to Reed. A 7-0 run by SLU made it 44-40 with 13 minutes left. Liddell ignited the flurry with a jumper, and Kevin Lisch converted a fast-break lay-in and two free throws awarded when NCAT head coach Jerry Eaves was issued a technical foul.
The teams traded buckets over the next few possessions, with Lisch and Eberhardt scoring in the paint and Alston and Coleman converting for the Aggies. With SLU trailing 50-47 with 7:30 left, Reed converted a traditional 3-point play to knot the score at 50-all. The deadlock did not last long, however, as Alston buried a running lay-in to put NCAT on top by two.
The Billikens tied the game again with four minutes remaining on a pair of Conklin free throws. They took the lead for the first time since early in the game when Conklin converted another free throw to put SLU on top 53-52 with 2:30 remaining.
The big play of the game was provided by Reed, who followed a missed shot with an offensive rebound and a put-back to put SLU up 55-52 with 30 seconds remaining in the half. The defense would hold the rest of the way, and Liddell and Kwamain Mitchell combined for five free throws down the stretch for the final 60-52 decision. The Billikens got off to a slow start, but reeled off five straight points to take a 5-4 lead early on. Reed keyed the scoring spurt with a free throw and a dunk, and Liddell capped it with a floater that moved him into SLU's top 10 in career scoring. However, the Aggies responded by scoring the next seven points to take a six-point lead with 11-5 with 13:58 remaining in the first half, and they would not relinquish that lead the rest of the half.
SLU trailed 22-10 with 7:26 remaining in the period. The Aggies, who turned SLU's 10 turnovers into 13 points in the first half, took a 29-12 lead with four minutes left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Nicholas Wilson and buckets by Tavarus Alston and Julian McClurkin.
A 3-pointer from the left corner by Mitchell halted a 7-0 run for NCAT and pulled the Billikens to within 14 at 29-15 at the final media timeout of the first half. More 3-pointers by Lisch and Kyle Cassity helped SLU trail just 35-21 despite shooting 21 percent in the first frame, its worst shooting half of the season thus far.
The Billikens begin Atlantic 10 Conference play Jan. 8 when they travel to the Cintas Center to face Xavier. The game tips at 7 p.m. and can be viewed on CBS College Sports.
