ST. LOUIS – Brady Dunlap and Robbie Avila scored a game-high-tying 18 points apiece, and Saint Louis held off a stubborn New Hampshire team 93-79 Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
 
The Billikens improved to 11-1 with their fifth straight win. SLU is off to its best start since the 2011-12 team began the season 12-1.
 
Also, the victory was the Billikens' 12th straight at home dating to last season, the longest winning streak in Chaifetz Arena history.
 
Dunlap's season-high scoring total included a season-high and game-high-tying four 3-pointers (4-of-6). He had career bests of six free throws made and eight free throw attempts. Dunlap tallied 13 of his 18 points in the second half.
 
Avila's 18 points matched his season high. He also led all players with a season-high six assists.
 
Dion Brown and Trey Green joined Dunlap and Avila in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Quentin Jones and Amari McCottry had nine apiece and Ishan Sharma tallied eight.
 
Brown narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds, leading the Billikens to a 46-31 advantage on the boards that included a 14-4 edge on the offensive glass. McCottry and Paul Otieno (tied season high) collected seven rebounds apiece, and Jones chipped in six while adding four assists.
 
SLU connected on 12 3-pointers, its seventh time reaching double figures this season, and outscored New Hampshire 23-11 from the foul line. The Billikens committed just eight turnovers, the third time in four games they have registered a single-digit total.
 
New Hampshire of the America East Conference led 51-49 before Saint Louis assembled a 10-0 run, featuring Dunlap triples on back-to-back possessions, to surge ahead 59-51 with 12:23 to play.
 
Saint Louis was in front 65-61 with 8:46 left after New Hampshire's Jack Graham drove for a layup. Treys by McCottry and Green and two McCottry free throws in an 8-0 spurt gave the Bills some breathing room and a 73-61 lead.
 
New Hampshire answered with a 10-2 run of its own to trim the margin to four, 75-71, at the 4:00 mark. It was still a two-possession game, 85-79, when the Wildcats scored with 1:28 remaining.
 
However, those were the last points the visitors would record. The Billikens sank six consecutive free throws to put the game away.
 
The first half featured 17 lead changes and four ties, and neither team led by more than seven points. The final lead swap came with just three seconds remaining when Avila's 3-pointer gave SLU a 40-38 halftime edge.
 
The Billikens host Principia Sunday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. The Saint Louis women follow with a game against University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy at 5 p.m.