ST. LOUIS – Sincere Parker scored a career-high 20 points and Francis Okoro snared a career-best 20 rebounds as Saint Louis topped La Salle 84-71 Saturday afternoon in Atlantic 10 Conference men's basketball action at Chaifetz Arena.
 
It was the fifth win in a row for the Billikens (14-6 overall), and they remain in a tie for first with VCU in the A-10 standings with a 6-1 record. That 6-1 mark in the A-10 is also the best league start for the Billikens in the Travis Ford era.
 
Parker's career-best 20 points came on 8-of-9 shooting from the field, including a 2-of-3 mark from 3-point range. He also pulled down five rebounds.
 
Okoro had a double-double as he added 12 points to go along with his 20 rebounds. Eleven of his boards came on the offensive glass. The 20 rebounds were the most by a player in the A-10 this season and the second-most by a Billiken in Chaifetz Arena history (Hasahn French, 24 vs. Belmont in 2019-20).
 
Yuri Collins joined Francis Okoro with a double-double with 17 point and 11 assists. Collins also moved to second all-time time in the A-10 in career assists.
 
Also scoring in double figures for the Bills was Terrence Hargrove Jr. (season-high 11 points) and Javonte Perkins.
 
The Billikens offense exploded in the second half, shooting 58.6 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from 3-point range. They finished the game shooting 48.4 percent.
 
La Salle (8-11, 2-4 A-10) led by as many as 10 in the first half before an 8-0 SLU rally got the Billikens back into it. SLU scored the final five points of the first half to take a one-point lead into halftime at 33-32.
 
The Explorers came out of halftime on a 7-0 run to force a SLU timeout, and the Billikens reset and it was all SLU from there. The Bills had a 12-0 run during the half to open up a double-digit lead and they eventually posted the 13-point win.
 
SLU is back in action on Friday, Jan. 26, when it heads to Davidson for the A-10/ESPN Friday Night Showcase on ESPN2.