It may be cold outside, but Paul Eckerle and the Saint Louis Billikens were hot last night against the Massachusetts Minutemen at Chaifetz Arena. The Bills (10-6, 1-1) downed UMass 69-64 in the Atlantic 10 home opener in front of 7,600 fans, improving their home record to 9-1 this season.
The Bills were led in scoring by freshman Kwamain Mitchell and senior Tommie Liddell III, who notched 14 points apiece. Senior Kevin Lisch contributed 13 points, including several free throws late in the game. Eckerle was one point off his career high with 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.
“Tonight was a really good night for me both offensively and defensively,” Eckerle said. “I felt like I contributed on both sides of the ball . There was a great atmosphere, and it was a special night.”
Both teams came out quiet with Eckerle keeping the Billikens close with two straight 3-point field goals.
UMass (6-9, 1-1) went on a 12-4 run before SLU called a time-out to stop play. SLU committed five of its only seven turnovers in the first half. Chris Lowe, who had 21 points on the night, accounted for seven of UMass’ 12 points in the six minute run.
Head Coach Rick Majerus and his staff changed to a zone defense and the Bills responded with a nine-point run to take the lead 23-22. UMass would score the last five points of the half to take a 31-27 advantage to break. The Minutemen shot 54 percent from the field in the first half compared to a dismal 33-percent effort from SLU.
“We hit some good shots, some really tough shots,” Majerus said. “We played in zone . I’ve never played zone before in my life. The guys embraced it. It changed the pace and the tempo of the game, and it was disruptive to them.”
The beast inside the Billikens woke up in the second half. Staying with the 1-2-2 zone defense, SLU scored eight straight to reclaim the lead. The teams proceeded to exchange leads on several occasions, with Eckerle powering the Bills and Lowe leading the Minutemen. The Billikens would stretch their lead to as much as six just to see UMass work their way back into the game.
A field goal by Liddell put SLU up 65-59, but Bonner answered with a 3-point bucket to slim the UMass deficit with less than one minute remaining. Lisch would seal the 69-64 victory with four big free throws down the stretch. Overall, Lisch and Liddell combined for the final 13 points of the contest.
“For the most part, I think we played good defense on their drives,” Liddell said. “Kwamain did a great job finding people, and we were just ready to shoot the ball. The game is all about going on scoring runs, so we ran with them, and we caught [UMass] by surprise.”
The Billikens shot a sizzling 58 percent in the second half and ended with a 44 percent mark for the game. The Minutemen, who were led by Lowe’s game-high 21 points, shot 54 percent but were out-rebounded by SLU 33-24. Each team committed just seven turnovers.
SLU returns to action Saturday against George Washington. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Chaifetz Arena.
