After half a season, it’s hard to come up with the right words to describe Saint Louis University men’s basketball. But a few words do come to mind: dramatic, unpredictable and, like St. Louis weather, sometimes hot and sometimes cold.
“You’re looking at inexperience out [on the court],” head coach Rick Majerus said. “The mental effort was more impressive than the physical effort. We play our butt off, and for the most part our effort isn’t an issue.”
Five Billikens went into double figures in last night’s game at Chaifetz Arena that ultimately ended in SLU’s favor 78-74 over Duquesne after one period of overtime. The last time five players scored in the double digits was Nov. 10 of 2007 against Houston Mercy.
With the win, the Billikens advance to 13-9 overall and 4-4 in Atlantic 10 play. Kevin Lisch’s 21 points came on 6-of-15 shooting and included four 3-pointers and six points in overtime. Tommie Liddell III added 13 points, while Willie Reed threw in 12. Kwamain Mitchell and Barry Eberhardt added 10 points apiece. Majerus has now amassed over 450 wins as a collegiate head coach.
“It wasn’t easy, it never is . It was a good win, though,” Lisch said. “Every win is important to us, this conference is pretty tough, and so it’s just another good win for us.”
The same SLU team that came within one of beating Dayton last weekend, had a hard time staying on top of the Dukes. They shot 45 percent from the field, but a disappointing 65 percent from the line.
Duquesne scored its first 10 points on buckets in the paint, and pulled to within three points. The Bills would go up by eight before the Dukes went on a 9-0 run. The teams then traded the lead at the half. Duquesne hit 58 percent of its shots in the first half compared to 44 percent by Saint Louis.
The Bills yielded an early traditional 3-point play to start the second session, but scored their next nine points on 3-pointers. But just as they did in the first half, the teams played neck-and-neck with the lead changing several times. The Bills then went on a 7-0 run. Lisch ignited the rally with a 3-ball, and Mitchell converted a running lay-in off the glass. Eberhardt nailed a nine-footer to put SLU up 53-48 with roughly 7:30 remaining in the game.
SLU regained a comfortable eight-point lead when Mitchell connected on a floater and Liddell layed in a runner to put SLU up 62-54 at the three minute mark. But a resilient Duquesne team cut the lead to 62-59, ultimately leading to the thrilling final minute of regulation and overtime.
The overtime session wasn’t any prettier. The teams battled for the lead; SLU would lead by as much as four just to see Duquesne hit crucial threes to stay in the game. Sticking with the theme of the night, Duquesne didn’t fold and clawed back. Eric Evans drilled a late 3-pointer to pull the Dukes to back within two in the final seconds, but Kwamain Mitchell buried two free throws on the other end to seal the 78-74 victory.
“We missed free throws, had turnovers, foul trouble, and we never quit. It was a great college game,” Majerus said.
