The Billikens fell to 10-3 overall, and 2-8 in the A-10, after an 83-65 loss to Fordham who ended their nine-game losing streak. Although four players for the Bills recorded double figures for the game, it was not enough to overcome the Ram’s offense that shot an astounding 66.7 percent in the second half and 50 percent overall from the field.
Freshman guard Davell Roby led the Billiken offense with a career-high 16 points, while freshman center Austin Gillmann grabbed six boards leading the team in rebounds. Sophomore guard Mike Crawford went 6-8, contributing 15 points to the offense and junior guard Austin McBroom had 13 points for the Bills. Redshirt-junior guard Ash Yacoubou had 10 points and three rebounds coming off his stellar performance against St. Joseph.
The Billiken’s sloppy ball handling would give Fordham the opportunity to take a 12-0 lead, but a 3-pointer ignited a 9-0 run by SLU. Although the Billikens were only down by four at the half, and soon tied within the first few minutes of the second, the Rams went on a 10-2 run to pull ahead by eight. Fordham put together an 11-0 run and the Billikens would pull within four, but the Rams responded and the Billikens could not recover.
SLU played Dayton on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Chaifetz in a hard-fought, close game. The Billikens kept up with the Flyers each possession and fought hard for each basket. Dayton went through a cold spell near the end of the first, only hitting 1-of-10 field goal attempts in 3:27 to give the Billikens a 25-19 lead at half, Yacoubou headed the offense with eight points. Although the Bills had a few sloppy turnovers due to bad passing, their ability to slow the game down and quickly fall back on defense made the underdogs a challenging opponent.
The Flyers cut away at the lead in the beginning of the second and tied the game at 31 all with less than 13 minutes. Roby made a laser pass to sophomore forward Tanner Lancona for an easy bank-shot to put SLU up 33-31, but a quick trey allowed the Flyers to regain the lead. Dayton stretched their lead to three after successfully converting a 3-point opportunity at the line.
The Billikens regained a 38-37 lead with less than nine minutes left in the game. Gillmann hit a jumper as the shot-clock time expired and Crawford converted both free throws. This lead would be short-lived, as Dayton’s Darrell Davis showed why he shoots 50 percent behind the 3-point line, silencing the SLU crowd with a three at the 7:18 mark. Yacoubou fought hard in the paint to tie the game again at 40 all.
The Billikens kept up with Dayton, and the crowd erupted into cheers when Crawford banked a shot as the clock sounded to put the Bills in the lead. Dayton passed the Bills 47-44 and SLU missed opportunities on back-to-back possessions, as Yacoubou fell to the court both times for turnovers. SLU used a full court press with 40 seconds left to play and sent Dayton to the line where they converted both shots to increase their lead to 49-44.
Horrific passing by the Billikens and Dayton’s success at the line contributed to the Flyers’ 51-44 win. Although the Billikens had 19 turnovers for the game, Roby commented that, “a lot of the turnovers were unforced errors and not being patient”. Yacoubou led the offense with 12 points and five rebounds.
Coach Jim Crews commented on the loss stating, “I felt that one of the big differences in the game was turnovers. In the second half we turned the ball over 11 times, you are not going to win turning the ball over 11 times and that probably negated a lot of the things that we did well.”
The Billikens will continue A-10 season play at Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island on Saturday, Feb. 14 and then on Tuesday, Feb. 17 in Richmond, Virginia against VCU.