The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team is like butter: they spread it around. Five Billikens scored in double figures as SLU won their first exhibition game of the year 90-66 over the NBC Thunder.

“I think we’ll get a lot better,” coach Lorenzo Romar said.

The Bills opened the game by giving up two straight threes to the Thunder. DeWaune Wesley abused Maurice Jeffers as he connected on two consecutive three pointers.

Jeffers bounced back on the other end as he hit sophomore guard Marque Perry for a layup. Perry continued to be a force as he scored 10 of the Billikens first 16 points. He used his crossover to shake his defender and create open jumpshots.

Perry’s presence was unexpected since his status was uncertain coming into Tuesday night’s game. Last season against Louisville, Perry dislocated his ankle and missed the rest of the season.

After working all summer Perry found that he did not have his full range of motion. After having the ankle examined, doctors determined that it had been in a cast for too long.

In October, Perry had surgery to loosen the scar tissue in his ankle, and now he seems to be ready to go for the year.

“My ankle felt good; there was no pain,” said Perry.

“They just want me to keep some ice on it.”

“The doctors feel that the swelling plateaued and we wanted to get him out there,” Romar said. “He makes his presence felt.”

Perry finished with 14 points, four steals, four assists, two rebounds and three turnovers.

Jeffers posted a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Four of his 10 boards were on the offensive end. Jeffers expects to step up his game in his senior year.

“You’re going to see my whole game this year,” said Jeffers. “I believe I can score as well as play defense.”

Jeffers defense was sketchy in the beginning, but he stepped up as the game went on. He tallied three steals and batted numerous balls.

The Billikens defense came around as they forced 26 turnovers while only committing 16.

Drew Diener took advantage of his time on the floor. All night Diener was all over the floor diving for loose balls, hustling and hitting his open shots.

“He’s a threat; you don’t want to give Drew an open shot,” Romar said. “When the scouting reports come out, teams will know not to leave him open.”

In his reserve role Diener had 10 points on two of five shooting. He hit all four of his free throw attempts but did foul out after playing 20 minutes.

In only 17 minutes sophomore Chris Braun scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. He went two of three from behind the arc and missed one of his five free throw attempts.

“Chris Braun really stepped up and did a great job tonight,” Romar said.

Also looking good for the Billikens was senior Chris Heinrich. He only pulled down three rebounds but was solid on the offensive side of the ball as he hit for 16 points. Heinrich was five of eight from the floor and hit all six of his free throws.

“I looked to play a little more offensively,” said Heinrich.

“When he gets a few to go down, we like to get the ball to him,” Romar said.

“Like any other player he gets into a rhythm. He doesn’t have many shots blocked because he shoots the ball from so high up.”

The Billikens dominated play underneath as they scored 44 points in the paint.

They fell short on taking advantage of the Thunder’s 26 turnovers by only scoring 17 points.

SLU did manage to get a win, something that they did not do in their previous exhibition game.

“A lot of people on the team came to win,” Heinrich said. “It’s a sign of things to come, we had to look each other in the mirror last game. We were ready to win.”

The Billikens regular season begins this Saturday at 1:10 p.m. at the Savvis Center against the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames.