ST. LOUIS - Cody Ellis had 14 points and six rebounds to lead Saint Louis to a 64-50 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over Richmond Wednesday night at Chaifetz Arena.

Saint Louis' fifth consecutive victory lifted the Billikens to 21-5 overall and 9-3 in the A-10. SLU remains a half-game behind first-place Temple (9-2 A-10), a 76-70 winner at St. Bonaventure Wednesday night.

Richmond, which recorded its second-lowest point total of the season, lost for a fifth time in six outings and fell to 13-14, 4-8.

Ellis, whose scoring total led SLU to a 33-13 advantage in bench points, was 6-of-11 from the field. He was joined in double figures by Kwamain Mitchell, who scored 11 points, and Mike McCall Jr., who tallied 10 to go with a game- and season-high five assists. McCall also had a season-high four rebounds.

Cory Remekun netted nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and gathered a game- and season-high seven rebounds to lead the Bills to a 38-24 advantage on the glass. Jordair Jett chipped in four assists.

Richmond, which was plagued by 1-of-15 shooting from 3-point range, got 19 points from Darien Brothers and six rebounds from Cedrick Lindsay.

Saint Louis grabbed a 5-0 advantage on a McCall Jr. jumper and Rob Loe's baseline 3-pointer. Richmond, which was 0-for-3 with a turnover on its first four possessions, scored on its next four touches to make it an 8-7 SLU lead.

It was 10-9 Saint Louis when the Bills began to gradually pull away. Jett drove the baseline for a reverse layup, Brian Conklin drilled a jumper in the lane, and Ellis turned an offensive rebound into a layup for a 16-11 lead.

After Greg Robbins' layup made it 16-13, Kyle Cassity buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to double the Billikens' margin. Following Kendall Anthony's spinning bank shot, Ellis hit a baseline spinner of his own, McCall Jr. drove for a layup, and Ellis dunked off an offensive board to put the Billikens on top 25-17.

Anthony made two free throws before Saint Louis built its largest lead of the half, 31-19, on two free throws apiece by Conklin and Cassity followed by McCall Jr.'s steal and layup. Lindsay's late three-point play narrowed the gap to 31-22 at intermission.

The Bills bumped up the lead to 11, 40-29, on an Ellis trey, Remekun's short turnaround and Jett's reverse layup. Richmond then went on a 12-4 run, including its only 3-pointer of the game, to slice the Billiken lead to 44-41.

Richmond had two possessions to draw closer or tie, but the Spiders failed to convert. The Billikens took advantage by scoring on seven straight possessions in a 16-4 flurry that put the game away.

Remekun ignited the outburst with an offensive rebound and dunk, and Mitchell followed with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Remekun's layup on a nice feed from Ellis restored a double-digit margin, 51-41.

Mitchell answered Darrius Garrett's dunk with a triple from the right wing. Jett missed the back end of a 1-and-1 after earning the bonus, but SLU collected an offensive rebound and got two Mitchell free throws later in the possession. A pair of McCall charity tosses and one by Mitchell put the Bills in firm control, 60-45.