A blizzard might have blown through Chaifetz Arena last night, but the Saint Joseph Hawks had a difficult task in front of them-cool down the red hot Saint Louis Billikens. SLU got off to a chilly start but warmed up nicely to send the 7,000 SLU fans in attendance home with a 73-70 win.
The win, the Billikens’ fifth in six tries, improved the team’s record to 16-10, 7-5 in Atlantic 10 play, and assures them at least a .500 season. It is the third consecutive time SLU has beat Saint Joe’s, a team ranked first in the A-10 Conference just over a week ago.
Kwamain Mitchell led SLU with 17 points, including a clutch 3-pointer and two free throws in the final 70 seconds. Kevin Lisch had 15 points, 10 of them at the free-throw line. Barry Eberhardt had 14 points while Willie Reed added 11. Saint Joseph’s center Ahmad Nivins had 22 points and 11 rebounds.
“We didn’t win the battle [against Nivins], but we won the war,” Head Coach Rick Majerus said. “I think our guys played good tonight. We took some ill-advised shots, but I was happy with the ball movement and we took good shots tonight. I think we’re playing as hard as we can.”
To say this game was close would be a bit of an understatement. Neither team could hold on to a solid lead in either half. The Hawks got on the board first with two jumpers by Nivens, who leads the A-10 in scoring. The lead of four with 17:46 left in the first half would be Saint Joseph’s biggest lead of the game. SLU would go on its first run after a foul on Lisch led to three free throws. Eberhardt and Tommie Liddell III would add buckets and the Billikens would go up by six.
SLU kept the lead but the Hawks kept stride with them. With 7:06 in the first half remaining, Mitchell hit one of his five three-pointers to put the Bils up by seven, their largest lead of the game. Nivens and Darrin Govens worked hard to keep their team within reach-the duo knocked down six buckets before the end of the half. But SLU would, for the first time in a while, go into the locker room with the lead.
The Hawks weren’t ready to fly to their roosts just yet, though. Nivens would start a run to tie the game back up and then give Saint Joseph’s the lead. The teams would exchange the lead over a period of five minutes before SLU would take it for good. A three-pointer by Lisch and shots by Eberhardt would put the Bills up by seven again. The Hawks dwindled the lead to four with big shots by Tasheed Carr and Govens. The lead would be cut to as much as two with just under a minute to play, but crucial foul shots by Mitchell and Lisch sealed the game.
“It’s good to get a win,” Lisch said. “It was a close game, but [after some close wins,] we feel pretty comfortable in those situations.”
Majerus was also enthused about the “Billiken Blizzard.”
“I can’t thank the students enough. I think it was a big part of our victory tonight. I hope we can give Lisch and Liddell a big sendoff. The [students] were terrific and it had to be fun. Hopefully we’ll see then Saturday; it should be one helluva game.”
