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ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis shook off a pesky Rockhurst team Saturday night, finishing the game with an 11-3 run to post a 66-53 victory at Chaifetz Arena.
Willie Reed (7-of-10 FG) collected his fifth double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Christian Salecich added 11 points.
Femi John (eight), Justin Jordan (six) and Jon Smith (five) posted career-high rebounding efforts, and Brian Conklin registered seven boards to help lift the Billikens (6-3) to a 48-33 advantage on the glass.
Rockhurst (5-4) was led by Blake Baird's 14 points and seven rebounds. Aaron Morrissey scored 11 points.
Mitchell nailed 3-pointers on the Bills' first two second-half possessions to expand a 35-23 lead to 41-26. But SLU went cold after that, and Rockhurst capitalized with a 13-4 flurry that narrowed the margin to six points, 45-39.
The Billikens steadied the ship with a basket by Conklin and two driving layups by Mitchell for a 51-40 edge. SLU couldn't shake Rockhurst, however, and when Aaron Hill drilled a long trifecta, the Billiken lead slipped to 55-50.
That 3-pointer turned out to be the Hawks' last meaningful field goal, however, as SLU began its decisive 11-3 run. Salecich started things by sinking two free throws following three Billiken offensive rebounds. Reed tallied a dunk and a layup for a 61-51 lead, and Salecich and Mitchell each made a free throw. Mitchell's driving layup and a Jordan free throw concluded the scoring.
The Billikens scored on their first three possessions to grab a 6-2 lead. Conklin collected an offensive rebound and made a layup, and Reed sank a short baseline shot before turning a teammate's miss into a dunk.
Saint Louis' first double-digit lead was a 14-4 cushion. John made a layup, and Salecich and Jordan buried consecutive 3-pointers. Rockhurst quickly cut the lead in half, however, on a Hill tip-in and Jazz Neal's 3-pointer.
The Bills regained control with two Reed free throws and Mitchell's driving layup for an 18-9 lead, but Baird responded with buckets on two straight possessions to narrow the SLU advantage to 18-13.
The Billiken lead hovered between five and seven points before a 6-0 SLU mini run restored a double-digit cushion. Mitchell began the run with a finger-roll layup, Smith put back an offensive rebound and John netted two free throws for a 28-17 Billiken advantage.
Jake Meyer's trey momentarily cut the lead to eight, but Saint Louis outscored Rockhurst 7-3 the rest of the half. Salecich buried a 3-pointer, Reed used a drop step to make a layup, and Mitchell's nifty feed resulted in a Reed dunk for a 35-23 Billiken halftime lead.
The Bills shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field but were just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Rockhurst shot just 28.6 percent in the first half before responding with a more respectable 43.5 percent in the second half to finish at 34.5 percent (20-of-58). The Hawks were 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from 3-point distance.
Poor free-throw shooting plagued both teams. Saint Louis converted just 44 percent (11-of-25), while Rockhurst connected on just 47.1 percent (8-of-17). The teams combined for just 23 turnovers (SLU 12, Rockhurst 11).
The Billikens host Belmont of the Atlantic Sun Conference Wednesday, Dec. 16. Tip time at Chaifetz Arena is 7 p.m.
