CANCUN, Mexico - Despite a career-best 19 points from Saint Louis freshman guard Mike McCall, Southern Miss upended the Billikens 74-67 Thursday in the semifinals of the Cancun Governor's Cup at Poliforum Benito Juarez in Cancun, Mexico.
The Billikens advance to Friday's third-place game and will face Ole Miss at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Bob Picozzi and Miles Simon on the call.
McCall drained seven of his 11 shots from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Sophomore forward Cody Ellis contributed a season-best 15 points, while junior forward Brian Conklin collected his second-straight double-figure game with a season-high 13 points. Freshman guard Jordair Jett, Conklin and Ellis led the Billikens (5-6) with five rebounds.
The Billikens were hot from 3-point range early in the contest. Loe drained a trey before Ellis threw in back-to-back 3-pointers as the Billikens led 13-8 a little more than five minutes into the game.
Southern Miss (9-1) trailed for the rest of the first half, but pulled within one at 30-29 with just over three minutes to go before halftime. The Billikens got a layup from McCall and another trey from Ellis to give them a six-point cushion, and they carried a 35-33 advantage into the break.
SLU came out strong in the second half and went on a 6-0 run. McCall drained a 3-pointer, and Conklin converted a traditional 3-point play to put the Billikens up eight with 18:27 to go in the game.
A Conklin layup with 15:43 left put the Billikens up 49-40, but the Golden Eagles responded with a 15-2 run to grab their first lead since early in the game, 54-51 with 9:07 left.
Ellis knotted the game with a key 3-pointer, and he converted three-straight free throws to give the Billikens a one-point lead at 57-56 with 7:22 to go in the contest. McCall followed with a 3-pointer as SLU built its lead to four, but Southern Miss remained close to the lead and took it for good with 3:38 remaining.
Conklin converted two free throws to trim the Bills' deficit to two (66-64) with two minutes left, but the Billikens wouldn't score again until a half-court 3-pointer by McCall as time expired.
