ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis rallied from a 14-point first half deficit and hung on late to post a 68-67 road win at Charlotte in a key Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball matchup Saturday afternoon at Halton Arena.

The win improves the Billikens' record to 14-4, 2-2 in the A-10. Charlotte dips to 9-7 and 2-2 in the league.

The Billikens, who out-scored the 49ers 42-33 in the second half and utilized a 15-3 run in the second session to gain the lead, where led in scoring by Cody Ellis' 17 points. Mike McCall Jr. scored 16 points, while Brian Conklin and Kwamain Mitchell followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Ellis, McCall and Mitchell hit big 3-pointers late to help the Billikens maintain their lead.

SLU managed to overcome an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers, and Charlotte hit 54 percent from the field but the Billikens still came out on top. SLU shot 45.6 percent, including a 51.9 percent mark in the second half. SLU, which hit only one triple in seven tries in the first half, shot 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from long range in the second.

Charlotte controlled the pace of play early on, stretching out to a 21-11 lead with 8:09 left. The 49ers led by 14 at 27-13 with 4:38 left. The Billikens, however, went on an 8-3 run to close the first half and trailed by eight (34-26) at the break.

In the second half, Mitchell hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the first four minutes as the Bills trailed 40-34. The Billikens then went on a 12-0 run to take control. After Mitchell's trey, Conklin and McCall made baskets. Conklin's layin at 13:26 tied the score at 40-40. Ellis gave the Billikens their first lead of the game at 12:47 when he drilled a 3-pointer.

The Billikens continued to build their lead. Ellis made it 59-49 with a 3-pointer with 5:01 left. Out of a Charlotte timeout, McCall drilled a triple as the Billikens led 62-49 with 4:15 remaining.

The Billikens led by seven with under a minute to go, but missed foul shots by SLU and tough baskets by Charlotte allowed the 49ers back into the game.

With 23 seconds left, Conklin hit a pair of free throws to give the Bills a four-point lead. After a Charlotte basket pulled the Niners within two, McCall hit a pair from the charity stripe as SLU regained the four-point cushion.

Charlotte's Javarris Barnett hit a deep 3-pointer in the waning seconds, and Charlotte fouled immediately sending McCall back to the foul line with two seconds left and the Bills up one. After missing the first, McCall intentionally missed the second, and Charlotte was unable to get off a shot and the Billikens escaped with the one-point victory.

SLU returns to action Saturday, Jan. 21, when it hosts Duquesne at Chaifetz Arena on KPLR 11. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m.