LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saint Louis men's tennis broke away from Bellarmine late in the match and posted a 5-2 victory over the Knights on Sunday.
 
The Billikens (4-3) won the doubles point after dropping the first match. Ryota Fukushima and Theo Ortis downed Emil B. Berglund and Eli Franks 6-3 at No. 3, and Oscar Alvarez and Adam Behun clinched the point by holding off Paul Reynolds and Ian Deiters 7-6 (7-4) at No. 2.
 
Fukushima's opponent at No. 3 singles retired with Fukushima up 5-2 in the first set, giving SLU a 2-0 edge. The teams traded wins in the next three matches, with Theo Ortis making it 3-1 Billikens with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Reynolds at No. 4.
 
A 6-3, 6-4 triumph by Pavel Badaiants over Deiters at No. 6 gave the Bills the win. Behun's 7-5, 4-6, 12-10 victory over Sam Rueff at No. 5 provided the final margin.
 
Click on the Results link to the right for complete results.
 
"We faced a team in Bellarmine today that brought a lot of energy into the match," head coach Justin Stuckey said. "I don't think we played as well as we could have, but overall we did a great job of managing important moments in our singles matches to put ourselves in position to win."
 
Saint Louis takes on Oral Roberts Friday, March 19, in Springfield, Mo.