Past experience tells Billiken fans that no lead is safe for the Saint Louis University men’s basketball team. SLU surrendered late leads at Missouri and Memphis, 12-point second half leads at home versus Dayton and Southern Mississippi, and an eight-point lead at Cincinnati.
So the Billiken faithful probably felt a little uncomfortable about SLU’s 55-40 advantage over the Tulane Green Wave with 8:58 to play in the second half of last night’s game at the Savvis Center.
Tulane used a 23-9 run over a stretch of 6:21 to pull within one point of the Bills at 64-63. But SLU answered the Green Wave’s run with solid defense and perfect free-throw shooting to seal a 76-66 Conference USA victory on Senior Night.
The Billikens shot 10-10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game and forced Tulane to commit two offensive fouls and two turnovers. SLU’s record rose to 15-13 overall and 7-8 in C-USA. Tulane fell to 9-19 overall and 2-13 in C-USA.
“We made the plays that you’ve got to make,” said coach Lorenzo Romar. “We hit free throws. We defended well. They missed some shots. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
Three Bills’ seniors went out with a bang. Maurice Jeffers paced the team with 22 points, six rebounds and five steals. Chris Heinrich scored 17 points, tying a season-high. Justin Tatum added 12 points. The fourth senior, Matt Baniak, scored only two points due to foul trouble.
After building a slim 34-31 halftime lead, SLU started the second half with a 7-0 run to take a 41-31 lead. And after Tulane cut the Bills’ advantage to 42-37, SLU started another run-a 13-3 run that gave the Bills a 55-40 lead.
Both scoring streaks were paced by stellar Billiken defense. During the 7-0, Jason Edwin and Maurice Jeffers pilfered the ball which led directly to Billiken points. During the second run, Tulane couldn’t convert on nine of 10 possessions. The Green Wave missed five field goal attempts, had the ball stripped three times and traveled with the ball once.
“We were lethargic in the first half,” Romar said. “In the second half, we came out with more energy.”
But the Green Wave-who are now just 1-12 away from New Orleans-were reinvigorated after SLU’s runs. Forward Linton Johnson scored 10 points to guide Tulane during its 23-9 run. Over the six-plus-minute stretch, Tulane scored on 10 of 12 possessions.
“Every game is like that,” said senior forward Justin Tatum regarding the late-game breakdowns. “We can’t take them (Tulane) lightly. We had to play hard and play well. We had to come out and overpower them.”
In the first half, Tulane didn’t look like a 9-18 team. The Green Wave gave SLU fits with a high-low post game led by Ledaryl Billingsley and Brandon Brown. The players combined to score 19 of Tulane’s first 27 points.
“We were disappointed in the first half that their post men were doing the majority of the scoring for them,” Romar said.
After a timeout, Romar and the Bills decided to go to their strength-the post game. Chris Heinrich established good position underneath the bucket for two consecutive layups. Jeffers picked up a loose ball for an easy basket. Tatum ended the scoring for the half with an emphatic two-handed dunk.
Billingsley led the Green Wave with 21 points, which is his 12th 20-point game of the year.
Next up for the Billikens is Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net Midwest. The game is crucial for SLU in terms of seeding. If the Bills win, they will be a seventh seed in the C-USA tourney, which takes place March 7-10 in Louisville.
