The Billikens opened the Travis Ford period of SLU men’s basketball with an offensive fireworks show. The Billikens cruised in an exciting 124-85 exhibition victory over Greenville College on Friday, Nov. 4. The game was SLU’s only scheduled exhibition match for this season.
SLU’s offensive explosion will not appear in the official record book because the game was only an exhibition game. However, the 124 points scored in the match would have been the second-most in school history, narrowly trailing the school record of 130 points. The last time that the Billikens managed to score over 100 points, in either an exhibition or normal game, was in 2005. On Nov. 9, 2005, against the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the Billikens scored 102 points in a 102-67 victory.
Head coach Ford was impressed with the performance of the entire team, but praised the behind-the-scenes influence of the team’s seniors. “I was really proud of the team as a whole as everyone contributed,” he said. “I told the team in the locker room that I was really proud of our seniors. Reggie and Mike played terrific. They were our best leaders and had the best composure.”
In terms of points, however, it was a freshman that led the way. Freshman forward Zeke Moore had a team-leading 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Many of his points came from the charity stripe, where he was a perfect 10-for-10. His performance included several highlight-reel worthy dunks as well.
Senior forward Reggie Agbeko had a double-double, scoring 15 points and 18 rebounds. Senior guard Mike Crawford chipped in 19 points. There were several other double-digit scorers as well. Redshirt freshman forward Elliott Welmer added 16 points. Freshman forward Jalen Johnson contributed 14 points. Meanwhile, sophomore guard Jermaine Bishop and redshirt junior guard Aaron Hines had 13 points apiece.
The Billikens offense was extremely efficient, as well. Saint Louis shot 59% from the floor, including a slightly higher 61.5% in the second half.
The Billikens were able to effectively coun unique playing style. Greenville is from Greenville, Ill., which is roughly 40 east of St. Louis. The team tends to play at a very fast pace and uses a high-pressure defense. However, SLU was able to effectively counter Greenville. While Greenville did finish having taken 91 shots in the game, including 56 three-pointers, SLU won the game by an extremely wide 39-point margin.
After the convincing victory, SLU will hope to carry this momentum into their season opener against Ball State. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Chaifetz Arena on Nov. 11. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest, and tickets can be found by contacting the Billiken Ticket Office at 314-977-1260 or online at SLUBillikens.com.
After the Ball State season opener, SLU will follow with two additional home games, against Southern Utah on Monday, Nov. 14 and Eastern Illinois on Thursday, Nov. 17. The team will then travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to take on BYU and either Alabama or Valparaiso in the MGM Grand Main Event, which will take place in the MGM Garden Arena.
