SLU Men’s Basketball traveled to Richmond for the final game of the regular season on March 4. Despite rallying to tie the game four times in the final 10 minutes and trailing by one with less than two minutes to play, the Billikens couldn’t grab the lead. SLU lost 72-62.
Richmond’s largest lead was 12 in the first half, but SLU slowly started bouncing back, pulling to within four of the lead off four straight free throws from junior guard Davell Roby. Richmond headed to the half with a 33-26 lead.
Freshman forward Elliot Welmer got the Billikens started in the second half, scoring 10 straight points on a pair of treys and a pair of dunks. SLU came within one of the lead.
Freshman guard Zeke Moore hit consecutive treys midway through the second half, tying the game for the first time, 50-50, with 8:58 left.
Senior guard Mike Crawford tied the game back up at 52-52 several minutes later, but Richmond answered each time, never trailing.
A Welmer layup pulled SLU within one point of the lead with two minutes to play, but Richmond went on a 10-1 rally to secure the victory.
Crawford led the Billikens with 19 points, shooting 8-17 from the field. Welmer chipped in 17 points, with eight rebounds. Moore chipped in 12 points, shooting 4-4 from the field and 3-point range.
After a brief break, the Billikens traveled to the A-10 Tournament in Pittsburgh.
First up was a matchup against Duquesne on March 8. SLU trailed by as much as 18 points in the second half and was down by five with 24 seconds remaining before rallying for the 72-71 win. Roby capped the comeback with a tip-in with 1.6 seconds to play.
SLU trailed by 16 several times in the first half, but rallied back within 10 at halftime. SLU closed within five early in the second half before a 13-0 run by Duquesne put the Dukes on top 55-37 with 15:20 remaining. SLU chipped away at this margin, keeping it a one-possession game for most of the final 10 minutes.
A pair of Crawford buckets in the final seconds erased a five-point Duquesne lead, followed by the Roby tip-in to secure the SLU victory.
Welmer led SLU with 17 points and eight rebounds, shooting 7-8 from the field. Crawford chipped in 16 points, shooting 7-13 from the field. Senior forward Reggie Agbeko was one rebound short of a double-double, scoring 15 and pulling down nine rebounds.
On March 9, SLU faced George Washington in the second round, losing 53-46.
SLU jumped out to an early 12-4 lead and led most of the game, but a 11-3 run in the final two minutes clinched the victory for GW.
SLU held GW to 13 points in the first half and staved off several GW rallies in the second half. GW took the lead for the first time with 2:07 to play, but freshman forward Jalen Johnson buried a trey to put SLU back on top 46-45. GW’s Jair Bolden scored with 1:26 left, and GW hit their free throws in the last minute to seal the win.
SLU finished the season with a 12-21 record, going 6-12 in the A-10.
