Tuesday night at the Savvis Center, the Saint Louis University
men’s basketball team brought another game down to the wire. This
time, they managed to come out on top.
With 6.7 seconds remaining in the game and SLU leading Southern
Mississippi 56-55, the Golden Eagles had the final possession.
The ball ended up in the hands of David Haywood, who boasts the
fourth best three-point-shooting percentage in Conference USA. He
took an open look from behind the arc, but just missed as time
expired and SLU, 9-5 (2-1 in C-USA), made off with their second
conference win of the season.
“I told our guys, if you can win a game when you’re not at your
best, that’s a good sign. We were lucky” Coach Brad Soderberg said
of his team’s effort.
Southern Miss, 8-6 (1-2), came into the Savvis Center off a
66-63 home win over fellow Conference USA rival, Memphis. The
Eagles carried over some of that momentum into the early goings of
Tuesday’s game.
They jumped on SLU early, breaking the Bill’s zone defense with
hot shooting, as they hit nine of their first 12 from the floor to
mount a 19-9 lead.
After the quick start, Soderberg told his team “I don’t have any
magical defense for you to go to. If you can’t stop them with what
you’ve been taught, we’re going to lose.”
The Eagles’ shooting eventually cooled and the Bills quietly
began to fight their way back into the game with some solid
first-half shooting of their own, as they made 66 percent of their
attempts, including converting on four of five from behind the
three-point line.
The first half was capped by an impressive run by senior guard,
Josh Fisher, where he scored seven consecutive points.
That sent the Bills to the locker room with a 35-29 lead.
Southern Miss opened the second half in much the same fashion as
the game began with hot shooting and help from a technical assessed
on Soderberg, leading to an 8-0 Eagles run that tied the game.
Ultimately, fouls caught up with Southern Miss as they sent the
Bills into the bonus with an entire 10 minutes remaining, resulting
in a slew of free throws down the stretch.
SLU’s tough defense overcame their poor second half shooting
where they only made five of 18 from the floor.
Likewise, the Bills only shot just more than 50 percent from the
free throw line; but remained serviceable when it mattered and in
the end, charity shots made the difference in the victory.
After losing a number of tight contests, Reggie Bryant saw the
victory as a mulligan to be built upon. “Hopefully, now we can
start racking up some close games” said Bryant.
Bryant led all scorers with 20, followed by Fisher with 14 and
Tom Frericks with 13.
The Billikens began a four game winning streak during the
University’s holiday intermission by crushing Butler 72-54 at home
on Dec. 27 and continued their winning ways by ringing in the new
year by defeating Dayton, at the time, the nation’s twenty-23rd
team.
SLU relied on a stifling defense yet again, forcing the Flyers
into 32.8 percent shooting from the field and earning their first
road victory of the season, 60-49.
Just a few days later, SLU returned home and defeated Kansas
State 65-64 on Jan. 3 at the Savvis Center.
Notably, the Billikens set a school record by knocking down 15
three pointers by seven different players.
Saint Louis won its fourth consecutive game on Jan. 8, a 60-50
win over Texas Christian University on the road for their first
conference victory of the season.
The winning streak came to a halt on Jan. 10, with a tough 61-59
road loss to No. 21 Marquette.
After Bryant tied the game on a lay up in traffic with 11
seconds remaining, Travis Diener banked in the game-winning shot
from the baseline, to help the Golden Eagles escape with a victory.
The Billikens now boast a 9-5 record and will look to remain
competitive as conference play begins to heat up.
This year, the Billikens have placed a large emphasis on being
physically and mentally prepared for games. “There is a value in
routine, and we have been consistent all year with how we prepare
for games,” Soderberg said.
After Tuesday’s game, Soderberg expressed some additional
frustration concerning C-USA scheduling which he called “not fair.”
Commenting on the fact that Marquette has nine home games and only
seven away games while the opposite is true of Southern Miss, he
went on to compliment them on their effort and talent.
“I’ll come out and say it right now: It stinks that Marquette
does not have to play in Hattiesberg, Mississippi,” Soderberg said.
“All teams should have eight home games, eight away games; that’s
how it should be.”
The Billikens are in action again when they host the University
of Southern Florida at the Savvis Center on Saturday afternoon;
tip-off is at 1:10 p.m.
