The Billikens were not tangled in the Richmond Spiders’ web as they defeated the Spiders 64-50. The Bills (21-5, 9-3 Atlantic 10) have won their fifth-straight game and continue to hold their second place position in the A-10 Conference standings. Cody Ellis led the team with 14 points. Kwamain Mitchell had 11 points, and Mike McCall Jr., scored 10 points. Off the bench, Cory Remekun contributed 9 points in 15 minutes.

“We did not play as smart of a game on the defensive and the offensive end, but we were pretty fortunate that they did not make some of their three pointers,” Head Coach Rick Majerus said.

The Bills started off with an early 5-0 lead thanks to an early Rob Loe 3-pointer. The Spiders quickly came within 1 point, but never gained possession of the lead. The game would remain close until after the 8:00 media timeout. Then the Bills went on a 7-2 run to extend lead to an 8-point advantage, 23-15. Near the end of the first half, the Bills went 6-0 to extend their lead into double-digits 31-19, but Richmond scored a quick basket and made a free throw to cut the lead back into single digits and give SLU a 9-point advantage going into halftime, 31-22.

The Bills came out a bit slow in the second half and allowed Richmond to cut the lead to 7 points. SLU responded by having a 7-3 run which extended the lead back into double-digits, 40-29.

However, the Spiders responded with a quick 5-0 run to cut the Billikens’ lead down to 6 points. The Spiders were not done as they continued to pick away at the Billiken lead as until the lead was at just 3 points.The Spiders had an opportunity to take the lead with 6:24 left in the game, but missed the 3-point attempt that would have tied the game.

On the breakaway, Jordair Jett missed a layup, but Cory Remekun had a monster dunk that shifted the momentum back to SLU as the Bills took a 5-point lead. After the dunk, the Spiders could not respond and slowly shriveled under the pressure of the Billikens defense.

After a SLU timeout, the Bills went on a 11-2 run that sealed the game for the Billikens as the put their lead into double-digits for the final time. From there, the Bills just added to their lead with a large number of free throws.

“That game was a bit like pulling teeth. It was very scrappy. We have to come out tomorrow and have a good another good practice and keep improving upon what we are doing,” Ellis said.

After tonight’s game, attendance broke 100,000 for the season, and there are still two home games left in the season. The Billikens will play their next game against Fordham on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. central time at Chaifetz Arena.