ST. LOUIS – Strong defense and a decisive rebounding advantage lifted Saint Louis to a 63-45 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over Fordham Saturday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens improved to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in the A-10. Fordham slipped to 9-6, 2-1.
The win was the 100th of SLU head coach
Travis Ford's career. He becomes just the fifth coach in school history to reach the 100 wins mark.
SLU, which ranks second in the league in rebounding margin, earned a 48-26 edge on the glass.
DeAndre Jones and
Francis Okoro led the way with a game-high 10 boards apiece, with Jones just one rebound shy of matching his career best.
Lassina Traore collected a career-high nine caroms.
The Billikens held Fordham to a season-low 45 points, 28 points under the Rams' season average.
Gibson Jimerson poured in a game-high 19 points to lead Saint Louis in scoring for a 10th time this season. Okoro completed his third double-double of the year with 11 points, while
Yuri Collins contributed 11 points and game highs of nine assists and four steals. Jones tallied nine points, just missing a double-double.
SLU trailed by six points on three occasions in the first half, the final time a 15-9 Fordham lead with 7:49 to play. The Billikens closed the half on an 18-6 spurt, though, that featured scoring from five different players. Jones led the way with six points during the run, and SLU took a 27-21 lead to the locker room.
A Jimerson bucket at the 13:50 mark of the second half gave the Bills their first double-digit edge, 36-26, but it wasn't until later that SLU put away a Fordham team that came in with its first-ever 2-0 start in A-10 play.
Two free throws with 3:58 remaining kept Fordham within striking distance at 52-43. However, Saint Louis closed on an 11-2 run to secure a fifth consecutive victory over the Rams.
Up next for the Billikens is a trip to Massachusetts Thursday, Jan. 20, for the first of back-to-back games vs. the Minutemen. The contest tips at 6 p.m. Central and will be carried by Bally Sports Midwest.
