ST. LOUIS – Ash Yacoubou scored a career-high 20 points, and Saint Louis overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat Saint Joseph's in overtime, 68-61, in an Atlantic 10 Conference game Tuesday night at Chaifetz Arena.
Yacoubou was 8-of-10 from the field and added six rebounds and two steals for the Billikens (10-12, 2-7 A-10), who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Milik Yarbrough and Marcus Bartley tallied 12 points apiece. Yarbrough grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added three assists and two steals.
Aaron Brown netted a career-high 21 points and collected seven rebounds for Saint Joseph's (9-12, 3-6). DeAndre' Bembry registered 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
With the score deadlocked at 55, Bartley drove for a layup that put Saint Louis on top with 30.2 seconds to play in regulation. Bembry answered with a spinning bank shot with 5.4 seconds left, and an offensive foul left the Billikens without a chance for a game-winning shot attempt.
In the extra session, Yacoubou and Bembry traded free throws before SLU took a 62-58 lead on free throws by Davell Roby and Yacoubou and Reggie Agbeko's strong layup. Following a free throw by Brown, Roby drove the middle of the lane to put the Bills ahead 64-59.
Brown hit a short jumper in the lane with 43 seconds remaining to make it a one-possession game again. But two free throws by Mike Crawford with 12 seconds left gave Saint Louis some breathing room, and Yarbrough's breakaway dunk provided the final score.
Trailing by five points at intermission, SLU got a Yacoubou driving layup, a Yarbrough layup and a Bartley 3-pointer on its first three second-half possessions to draw to within a point, 33-32. Following two empty possessions by both teams, Bembry connected from deep to make it 36-32.
The margin floated between two and four points until the Billikens went on a 9-0 spurt to take a five-point advantage. Agbeko sparked the run with a layup, Bartley's left-hander tied it at 42, and Yacoubou's running bank shot gave Saint Louis its first lead since 7-6. Yacoubou's fast-break three-point play following Yarbrough's steal put SLU in front 47-42.
Saint Joe's regained the upper hand, 50-49, with a quick 8-2 flurry. Roby's three-point play gave Saint Louis a two-point edge, and Yacoubou drove the lane for a 54-50 Billiken lead.
Buckets by Shavar Newkirk and Javon Baumann knotted the game at 54. It was 55 apiece after Roby and Bembry traded free throws, setting the stage for Bartley and Bembry's exchange in the closing moments of regulation.
Bartley's 3-pointer and Austin Gillmann's baseline jumper gave Saint Louis a 5-2 lead, but Saint Joseph's scored on 10 of its first 15 possessions to go on top 24-11 with 11:28 left in the opening period. The Hawks then went ice cold, managing just one field goal and four free throws the rest of the half.
Following Yacoubou's trey and layup that narrowed the Saint Joe's lead to 24-16, Saint Louis managed only a Yarbrough short turnaround jumper in its next seven possessions.
The Billikens got on track in the closing moments of the opening stanza, however, and scored on four of their final six touches. A Bartley layup, a free throw and baseline jumper by Miles Reynolds and a Yarbrough layup made it 30-25 Saint Joe's at the break.
Saint Louis plays at Fordham Saturday, Feb. 7. Game time is 3 p.m. (CT).
