The Billikens did not have a let down against Duquesne as they handly defeated the Dukes 75-60 in the season’s final Atlantic 10 regular season game.
Head Coach Rick Majerus did not coach today after taking the wrong medication. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Majerus was taken to the hospital for observation as precaution, but is likely to travel back to St. Louis tomorrow. Assistant Coach Chris Harriman assumed coaching responsibilities for today’s game. Harriman assumed the responsibilities because he has spent all five seasons on Majerus’ staff at Saint Louis.
Five Billikens scored into double-figures today. Saint Louis was lead by Dwayne Evans who had his fifth double-double of the season scoring 20 points and collecting 14 rebounds. Kwamain Mitchell scored 13 points, Rob Loe and Brian Conklin contributed 11 points and Cody Eliis had 10 off the bench.
The Bills had the early slim 7-6 lead. After Duquesne’s Andre Marhold made a basket to keep the Billikens lead at one point, the Bills went on a quick 8-0 run to extend their lead to 19-10.
Evans made a layup with 5:57 left in the first half to give the Bills their first double digit lead of the day. SLU continued to maintained a double digit advantage for nearly the remainder of the first half. Ellis extended the lead to fourteen points after he made a three point basket with 1:53 left in the half. After the Dukes, cut the lead to eleven, Mitchell hit a three pointer with five seconds left in the first half to give the Bills the 39-25 advantage going into halftime.
The Bills started out slow in the second half as the Dukes quickly cut the SLU’s lead to eight, but the Bills quickly put the lead back into double digits. Duquesne’s Mike Talley cut the lead down to eight again with 9:57 left in the second half, but the Bills then went on an 11-0 run which extended the Bills lead to 63-44 and the Bills never looked back finishing the game with a 15 point advantage. The 11-0 run was capped by a Mike McCall Jr. layup.
Rebounding was a key factor in the game today. SLU used their height advantage against Duquesne and outrebounded the Dukes, 31-19.
The Bills have already secured the #2 seed in the A-10 conference tournament, but win forced Duquesne to go on the road for the first round of the A-10 conference tournament. The #2 seed means the SLU has a first round bye in the conference tournament and will play their next game in Atlantic City. SLU will play the winner of the #7 seed vs. #10 seed-Richmond in Atlantic City. The #7 seed has yet to be determined. The game will be at 5:30 p.m. central time and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
