WASHINGTON, D.C. – Saint Louis freshmen Milik Yarbrough and Davell Roby posted career scoring highs, but George Washington rallied to hand the Billikens a 75-72 loss Tuesday night in Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball action at the Charles E. Smith Center.

Saint Louis dips to 8-7 overall and 0-2 in the league. George Washington, which is receiving votes in the national polls, improves to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the league.

Yarbrough scored a career-high 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 1-of-2 from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. He also tied for team-high honors with six rebounds. Yarbrough has eclipsed his career-scoring high in each of the last three games – Vanderbilt (13 points), Rhode Island (19 points) and now George Washington.

Roby was effective from 3-point range (4-of-5) to help account for his career-best 14 points. He also tied a career-high with five rebounds. Ash Yacoubou scored all seven of his points in the second half and finished with six rebounds. Marcus Bartley, who earned his first start since the Rockhurst game, hit a pair of treys for six points.

As a team, the Billikens shot a season-high 54.9 percent (28-51) from the field and 52.4 percent (11-21) from 3-point range.

The Billikens had a chance to win it late. The SLU defense forced a turnover, giving the SLU the ball with 22.2 seconds remaining. GW knocked the ball out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left. On the ensuing in-bounds play, Mike Crawford passed to Austin Gillmann, who quickly gave it back to Crawford in the corner, but his shot at the horn was off the mark. Video reviews would later confirm that the shot would have been a two-pointer regardless, and George Washington escaped with the victory.

SLU turned a seven-point first-half deficit into an eight-point lead (40-32) at halftime. The Billikens utilized an 11-0 run midway through the first half to grab the lead. Included in the spurt were 3-pointers by Gillmann, Roby and Austin McBroom.

The second half saw the Colonials go to the free-throw line 22 times, compared to just four for Saint Louis. GW converted 19 of those chances to build its comeback despite shooting only 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from the field.

SLU led 49-48 with 12:19 remaining, but GW's Yuta Watanabe hit a trey to give GW a lead it would not relinquish. The Billikens managed to tie it up two more times but were unable to grab the lead.

The Billikens return to action Saturday when it travels to Davidson, N.C., to face A-10 newcomer Davidson. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT)