The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team traveled to New York to play St. Bonaventure on Feb.7, losing 62-65. For the fourth game in a row, the Billikens started junior Aaron Hines, freshman guard Jermaine Bishop, junior guard Mike Crawford, senior guard Ash Yacoubou and junior forward Reggie Agbeko.

SLU won the tip and swapped baskets with St. Bonaventure before Bishop hit a three to give the Bills a 5-4 advantage at the first media timeout. With 11:57 left in the half, the Billikens found themselves on top 13-10 with Bishop contributing almost half (6) of the Billikens’ points. The Bonnies slipped into a 0-8 drought from behind the arc and the Billikens took advantage of this opportunity to extend their lead to five with just under eight minutes left in the first.

As the half progressed, the Bonnies recovered from their offensive slump and put together a 6-0 run to cut the Bills’ lead to one, but Bishop once again drained a three to make the score 25-20. St. Bonaventure responded from behind the arc to gain a 28-27 lead with 51 seconds left until halftime. The score would hold, and the Billikens entered the locker room trailing by one.

The Billikens regrouped and got back on track offensively early in the second half. SLU regained the lead, 35-31. The score stayed close most of the second half. Sophomore guard Miles Reynolds was reliable behind the free throw line when the Billikens needed him. He sank four free throws in a row to put the Bills up by eight with 8:43 left in the game.

St. Bonaventure refused to go down quietly and forced the Billikens to call a timeout after a 6-0 break that ended with the SLU clinging to a 50-47 lead. The Bonnies and Billikens battled to the final media timeout, in which SLU’s lead was only a field goal with 3:44 left on the clock. The Bonnies quickly tied the game at 57. Shortly after, with 1:33 left on the clock, the Bonnies hit a three to go up by two, but there was a lull in the action as athletic trainers attended to injured sophomore guard Davell Roby, who would eventually check back in for the Billikens. Agbeko was sent to the line with the opportunity to tie the game, but hit only one of his shots to make it a one point game with thirty seconds left.

SLU quickly fouled and found themselves down by two with 26.9 seconds left in the game. On the ensuing possession, Crawford hit a layup that once again tied the game with 15.9 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, the Bonnies hit a heart breaking three at the buzzer that ended the nail bitter in a loss for the Billikens. Bishop led the Billiken offense with 17 points and had a career-tying six assists. Agbeko recorded nine boards and five points. The team shot 40.4 percent from the field.

The Billikens hosted Richmond on Feb. 10. The Billikens acquired an early 9-7 lead after Hines scored four points and Yacoubou drained a three. Richmond tied the score at 16 with 11:50 left in the half. The game remained close, but the Bills gained a 25-50 lead as a result of a turnaround jumper from Yacoubou with just under seven minutes before halftime. Richmond continued to hang around and cut the deficit to two.

Richmond continued to battle and successfully obtained a 32-31 lead at halftime.

Richmond opened the half shooting a perfect three for three in field goals and gained a 38-32 advantage. SLU suffered from a scoring drought, which allowed Richmond to develop an 11-0 run to take a 45-32 lead.

Offensive troubles for the Billikens continued. Richmond easily kept their lead in double digits. With 11:38 remainng, the Billikens trailed Richmond 50-35 with the leading scorers, Yacoubou and freshman center Matt Neufeld, recording eight points a piece.

Richmond had another 6-0 streak as SLU hit two of their nine attempted field goals. Richmond maintained a commanding 58-44 lead with under six minutes left on the clock. Richmonds offense refused to let up and the Billikens could not recover from their offensive hardships, which inevitably lead to a 67-53 loss for SLU.

The offense was led by Yacoubou who recorded ten points for the night. He also led the team in boards with six. As a team the Billikens shot only 34 percent from the field.

The Billikens drop to 3-8 in the A-10 and 8-15 overall. SLU will travel to Virginia to play VCU on Feb. 13. For full game coverage tune in to CBSSN.