ST. LOUIS – No. 25 Saint Louis clinched a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title, secured the No. 1 seed for the A-10 Championship and completed its first undefeated campaign at Chaifetz Arena Wednesday night with a 79-65 victory over Loyola Chicago.
 
SLU (27-3, 15-2 A-10) is one game ahead of second-place VCU with one regular-season contest remaining. The Billikens own a tiebreaker for the top seed by virtue of defeating the Rams in both meetings this year.
 
The Bills' 19 wins are a Chaifetz Arena single-season record. In addition, Saint Louis tied the school record of 22 consecutive home victories dating to last season.
 
Also, the Billikens set a school record for 3-pointers in a season, finishing the game with 336 treys.
 
Amari McCottry led the way with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting overall, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-6 from the foul line. McCottry's performance helped SLU connect on 60.4 percent (29-of-48) overall, its fifth game of 60 percent or higher this season, and 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the arc, the Billikens' seventh outing of 50 percent or better this year.
 
Dion Brown (6-of-6 FG) netted 15 points, and Robbie Avila scored 12 to go with a game-high six rebounds and four assists.
 
Kellen Thames (4-of-5 FG) added nine points, and Paul Otieno contributed five rebounds and a career- and game-high five assists.
 
Saint Louis led 40-32 at halftime and built the margin to 17 points, 51-34, with 14:33 remaining. Loyola fought back and trailed 62-54 with 8:36 to play.
 
The Billikens regained command with a 10-1 spurt for a 72-55 advantage at the 3:53 mark, with four players scoring during the run.
 
Following three early ties, Saint Louis gained an 18-6 lead with a 12-0 flurry that finished with 3-pointers by Ishan Sharma, McCottry and Brady Dunlap on consecutive possessions.
 
Loyola then turned the tables, going on a 23-9 run for a 29-27 edge with 4:38 left in the opening frame. However, Avila sparked a 13-3 Billiken spurt to close the half with a conventional three-point play and a 3-pointer.
 
The Billikens conclude the regular season Saturday, March 7, at George Mason. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised on USA Network.