Watching the first half, the bleeding appeared to be all but
over for the Saint Louis University Billikens.
In the previous three games, SLU faced constant struggles with
turning the ball over on top of converting on only seven of 40
three pointers.
Upon their return to the Savvis Center, it took all of 15
minutes to match and even surpass that mark, knocking down a total
of eight of 11 from three-point range in the first half of play.
All told, SLU hit 12 three-pointers and turned the ball over only
twice.
Usually, that translates into a win.
Not last night. By some strange twist of fate and an avalanche
of second-half offense for DePaul Blue Demons, the Bills fell to
defeat for the fourth straight game, by a final score of 70-58.
“We’re having a lot of trouble getting all the holes plugged on
the same day,” said coach Brad Soderberg of his team’s recent
difficulties.
After shooting at an overall clip of 56 percent through 20
minutes, the Bills took a 39-27 lead into halftime, ahead by as
many as 17 at one point and never showing signs of weakness or of
letting up. But that all changed in the span of only minutes.
Refusing to go away, the Blue Demons fought their way back in
the second. An 8-0 run for DePaul quickly brought them to within 10
of the Bills.
The buckets kept coming, and three pointers by guards Sammy
Mejia and LaVar Seals made the score 49-47, with 10 minutes
remaining.
Just moments later, Delonte Holland tied the game for the Demons
with a jumper just inside the paint. From that point on, the game
of back and forth began, with no team leading by more than four
points and neither willing to let the other gain anything
resembling momentum.
As part of several key baskets in the final minutes, Drake
Diener nailed a three with 4:30 remaining, to put the Blue Demons
up 60-57, for their first lead of the night.
For the Bills, Anthony Drejaj drained a pair of clutch three
pointers to keep SLU close until the final moments of the game.
SLU briefly took the lead off a Tom Frericks slam, until just
outside the one-minute mark Holland was fouled and converted on a
pair of free-throws, putting the Demons up 65-64.
SLU gave a couple of fouls to keep the score close, and with the
last possession, Sloan had an opportunity to tie the game in the
final seconds, as he put up a heavily contested shot from inside
the paint.
The shot drew no iron and the aggressive defense drew no call
from the officials as the Demons were able to barely escape with
the victory.
After the contest, Soderberg expressed understandable
exasperation with the Bills’ offensive performance throughout the
final half of play.
“Our guys weren’t willing to wait for that second or third pass
and Reggie took some bad shots that really had no chance of going
in,” Soderberg said.
“It wasn’t in the rhythm of the offense,” Bryant said of his
shot selection. ” I was just trying to make a play.”
After putting in only 37 percent from the floor early, DePaul
matched SLU’s first-half sharp-shooting, with 43 points in the
second-half, proving to be the deciding factor in their victory and
the nail in the coffin for the Billikens.
“It’s tough to swallow,” Josh Fisher said. “The easy way out
would be to hang it up; but there’s still a lot of time and games
left.”Fisher led SLU with 13 points, in spite of not scoring at all
in the second half.
On Saturday, SLU closed out a three-game C-USA road stretch,
which ended much as it began, with the Bills grabbing a first-half
lead, only to fall behind to take a loss to the University of
Memphis Tigers by a score of 63-54.
Play suffered on both sides of the ball throughout the first 20
minutes with a total of 22 combined turnovers. Yet, thanks to
defense typical of SLU’s pace, the Bills edged the Tigers by 23-22
at the half and carried some momentum into the second half.
But turnovers continued to plague SLU through the second half,
allowing Memphis to fight to a 37-35 advantage off a three by
Rodney Carney, with 13 minutes remaining; they would never trail
again.
For the Tigers, senior Antonio Burks led the way with 22
points.
Bryant scored 21 for the Bills; but was only able to hit one of
six from behind the arc.
Drejaj tried to make it close in the waning minutes, hitting
threes on back-to-back possessions, but was unable to spark the
rest of the offense, as SLU never got to within six points of the
Tigers. The Bills now look at a 2-7 record away from home.
They will, however, be granted a reprieve of their road woes
with two games remaining in the current homestand, spanning the
next week and a half, during which they will look for a big
turnaround.
Over that time they face Charlotte on Saturday and Marquette on
Wednesday.
The 49ers defeated the Bills earlier in the season 68-62, at a
game in Charlotte, with the Eagles also dropping them, thanks to
Travis Deiner’s last-second heroics.
