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ST. LOUIS - After Saint Louis scored the opening bucket, Missouri State took control and led by as many as 13 points en route to a 73-63 nonconference win over the Billikens at Chaifetz Arena Saturday evening. It is the first home loss for SLU this season and its first non-conference loss in its last 15 bouts against nonconference foes at home
Willie Reed led all scorers with 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Christian Salecich tied his career high with 15 points, including three 3-pointers; while Justin Jordan also contributed 15 points to go with a game- and career-high five assists. Adam Leonard and Jermaine Mallet paced Missouri State with 15 points apiece. The Bears, who improved to 10-0, made 44.0 percent of their shots from the field and 86.7 percent of their free throws. Meanwhile, SLU (7-4) knocked down 39.2 percent of its field goals.
Leonard's 3-pointer from the left corner with 16:36 remaining in the first half broke a 4-4 tie and gave Missouri State the 7-4 lead. Mallett knocked down a pair of free throws 16 seconds later as the Bears expanded the margin to five points.
After SLU's Salecich made a shot from the right wing with 16:08 left both teams went cold from the field. The teams made a combined 10 free throws over the next five minutes. Reed's second charity toss at 12:12 made it 12-11, giving Saint Louis its first lead since Reed scored the first bucket of the game.
Missouri State immediately regained the lead and raced out to a 23-16 lead utilizing a 12-4 run. Mallett's two free throws at 11:57 sparked the run. Then Kyle Weems ended the field-goal drought for both teams by nailing a baseline jumper from the right side to put his team ahead 15-12 with 10:17 left. Mallett added four more points during the spurt, while Leonard chipped in a fast-break layup before Justin Fuehrmeyer's layup at the 5:07 mark completed the charge. SLU's only points during the run came on a Reed layup and free throws from Brian Conklin and Jordan.
The Billikens mounted an 8-4 run to complete the half but the Bears still headed into the break with a 31-28 advantage. Reed led all scorers in the opening half with 11 points. SLU shot 38.1 percent, while Missouri State shot at a 37.0 percent clip. The Bears held a 19-14 lead on the boards, including a 7-2 edge on the offensive glass; but the Bills outscored MSU 12-0 from the free-throw line.
Missouri State began the second period with a 10-2 run that gave the Bears their largest lead to that point at 41-30 with 16:27 left in the game. Mallett's dunk at 19:00 kicked off the rally and was followed by a jumper in the lane by Weems at 18:39. Conklin scored Saint Louis' first points of the second half on a layup at the 17:34 mark to make it 35-30. But the Bears responded by scoring the next six points to widen their lead to 41-30.
After Reed halted the run with a pullup jumper at 15:32, SLU scored just six points on free throws over the next five minutes. During that span, Missouri State scored 10 points to race out to its largest lead of the contest at 51-38 with 10:12 to go. The Bills answered with an 11-2 run, including two Christian Salecich 3-pointers, to draw within 53-49. However, the Bears put the next 10 points on the board to claim a 61-49 advantage with 4:34 left. SLU was able to narrow the gap to seven points on two occasions after that but could get no closer as the Bears knocked down 10 free throws to ice the win.
