On Saturday, Feb. 12, the Billikens traveled to face the Spiders of the University of Richmond. The men’s basketball game was nationally broadcasted on ESPN 2. This was the Billikens’ fourth game this season on the ESPN family of networks.
Saint Louis University played tight defense in the first half of play, holding Richmond to a 39.1 field goal percentage from the field.
The real story of the game was not in the defense, but more in freshman forward, Dwayne Evans.
Evans had a career game on the road and kept the Billikens alive during the second half. He totaled 21 points and 15 rebounds. Both career highs and his third double-double of the season.
“Dwayne gave a big lift on the boards, especially on the offensive side,” sophomore guard Christian Salecich said. “His ability to play on the high post, against Richmond’s defense was extremely beneficial to our success on the offensive side of the ball.”
Freshman guard Mike McCall had seven points, and sophomore forward Cory Remekun had six points to go along with three rebounds.
At halftime, Saint Louis only trailed by three points, 26-23.
However, in the second, Richmond would capitalize on Billiken mistakes and extend their lead out of SLU’s reach.
It was a half marked by changes in momentum, a classic case of back-and-forth basketball.
The Billikens chipped into the lead with 13:03 left when facing only a 38-34 deficit, but they gave it right back to Richmond.
The Spiders went on a 13-4 run and led 51-38 with 9:04 left.
The Billikens responded with a run of their own, scoring eight unanswered points and trimming down the lead to 51-46 with only 5:17 left in the game.
Another basket with 4:32 left kept the Billikens within five points of the lead.
Junior forward Brian Conklin hit a short jumper with 2:32 left to make it a four-point game, 56-52, but after that basket, it was all Spiders.
The Billikens did not score again in the game and lost by a final score of 64-52.
The road of the Atlantic 10 has not been a friendly place for the Billikens.
Only one win has come on the road for Saint Louis this season, against Fordham on Jan. 19.
If it were not for Evans explosive night, the Billikens may have been run out of the gym by the Spiders.
With the loss, the Billikens fell to 8-16 (3-8). SLU currently stands at 12th place in the A-10 conference.
Only the top 12 teams in the conference advance to the conference tournament, which is the Billiken’s only shot at earning and NCAA bid.
