ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis shot a season-high 55 percent from the field and held off SIU Edwardsville 67-61 Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena.
Austin McBroom, who was 3-of-4 from 3-point range, had 13 points and a career-high-tying three steals. Ash Yacoubou added 10 points for the Billikens (6-4), who snapped a two-game skid. The victory was SLU's fourth win this season by six or fewer points.
Milik Yarbrough tallied seven of his eight points in the second half, Reggie Agbeko tossed in seven points and Austin Gillmann (3-of-3 FG) added six. John Manning pulled down a career-high six rebounds for a second consecutive game to go with six points, a career-high three assists and a career-high-tying four blocks.
Kris Davis (7-of-11 FG) netted a game-high 18 points for SIUE, which slipped to 1-6 with its sixth consecutive loss. Donivine Stewart and Grant Fiorentinos registered 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Stewart collected a game-high seven assists. Keaton Jackson hauled in a game-high seven rebounds.
SLU was 23-of-42 from the field and outscored SIUE 18-10 at the foul line.
The Billikens owned a 39-36 lead after Jackson and Yarbrough traded baskets to begin the second half. Davis hit a floater to narrow the SLU lead to a point.
Saint Louis seemed to take command with an 8-0 run that gave the Bills their largest lead of the game. McBroom drilled a trey from the left corner, Yarbrough made a free throw and a layup, and Manning connected from 17 feet for a 47-38 SLU advantage with 15:44 left.
Although the Billikens scored on three of their next four possessions, consecutive 3-pointers by Davis and Michael Messer kept SIUE close. SLU led 53-48 after Gillmann's offensive rebound and put-back at the 12:13 mark.
That was the last field goal the Bills would score for more than eight minutes. SLU recorded just two free throws during that stretch and held a 55-54 lead after Davis drove for a layup with 5:21 left.
Tanner Lancona provided a spark down the stretch, scoring all five of his points on three successive possessions. Lancona hit a short pull-up baseline jumper, a free throw and a tough layup to make it 60-56 Saint Louis with 2:15 to play.
After SIUE's Maurice Wiltz nailed a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game again, Davell Roby sank a free throw to double the lead. Lancona made a strong defensive stop on SIUE's ensuing possession, and Yacoubou put the Billikens up 63-59 with a runner across the lane.
Stewart kept the Cougars' hopes alive by making both ends of a 1-and-1 with 21 seconds left. But McBroom connected twice from the stripe to restore SLU's four-point lead, and following Davis' missed 3-point attempt, Manning secured the win with two more free throws.
A Fiorentinos 3-pointer and Davis' three-point play on consecutive possessions gave SIUE its only lead, 12-11, with 14:31 left in the first half.
Saint Louis answered by outscoring SIUE 13-4. Marcus Bartley sparked the run with a drive down the lane, followed by two short Agbeko jumpers for a 17-12 Billiken advantage.
SLU suffered seven consecutive empty possessions, but SIUE trimmed just three points off the Billiken lead. McBroom got the Bills back on track with a trey from the left wing, and Gillman's wide open layup put Saint Louis on top 22-15.
Two Yacoubou free throws finished the run and gave the Billikens their largest lead of the half, 24-16, at the 8:08 mark.
However, Stewart scored six points and Davis added five in a 16-8 SIUE run that resulted in a 32-all deadlock with 1:24 remaining. Miles Reynolds' three-point play and Gillman's jumper gave Saint Louis a 37-34 advantage at the break.
The Billikens host Texas-Pan American Wednesday, Dec. 17. Tip time at Chaifetz Arena is 7 p.m.
