A pair of losses leave SLU in the middle of conference pack
Winter break for the men’s basketball team has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride in what began as a year full of optimism and promise. The Billikens began their break by improving their record to 10-1 with an easy victory over Alabama State. A 17-0 run to start the game set the stage for the dominating performance.
The success continued with another victory over Texas Southern, a team that at that time only had one win on the season. Brian Conklin led all scores for 15 points and also contributed 4 rebounds.
A road trip to “The Pit” proved to be too much though, as the Bills lost a heartbreaker to perennial powerhouse New Mexico. With an overall record standing at 12-2, the Billikens sat high in the Atlantic 10 standings with their first conference matchup against Dayton looming in the horizon.
The Bills trailed late in the second half against Dayton, and it looked as though they were all but out, but a clutch 3-point basket at the end of regulation by Cody Ellis forced the game into OT. Dayton’s offense was just too strong though, and the Billikens lost an agonizing 72-79 decision to begin conference play.
Two straight losses, however, did not faze them, as they battled hard against George Washington University and came out with a decisive 78-56 victory at Chaifetz Arena. Dwayne Evans’s double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) paved the way for the Bills and helped to end the two-game skid.
The celebrating did not last for long, because Temple came to town and left the Billikens under .500 in the conference after a 72-67 victory. After this loss, SLU stopped receiving votes to be placed in the NCAA top 25 rankings.
The break did not get any easier when Charlotte came to town and took a 14-point lead into the half thanks to 17 Billiken turnovers. However, solid play from Mike McCall and strong 3-point shooting by Kwamain Mitchell charged a Bills comeback, and they wound up winning by a final score of 68-67.
The Billikens have lost three of their last five games and are entering a pivotal stretch in their schedule by facing Xavier and UMass on the road in the upcoming weeks. With their NCAA tournament hopes diminishing with each loss, the Bills hope to enter February with a 5-2 conference record and prove to the experts that they are just as strong now as they were at the beginning of the year. Duquesne comes to Chaifetz Arena on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
