Saint Louis held off Chicago State’s late comeback attempt and recorded a 45-43 victory Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens, who snapped a five-game losing streak, improved to 3-6. Chicago State of the Western Athletic Conference slipped to 3-6.
Mike Crawford and Elliott Welmer (4-of-8 FG) scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the SLU attack. Welmer added five rebounds, while Crawford grabbed four.
Jermaine Bishop played a solid all-around game, contributing eight points, a career-high-tying seven assists and three steals. Reggie Agbeko collected a team-high six rebounds, while Davell Roby posted five assists.
Chicago State’s Trayvon Palmer led all players with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Saint Louis scored on eight of nine possessions to build a 43-33 lead at the 10-minute mark of the second half. Bishop registered a trey and a three-point play on consecutive trips down the floor, and Crawford also tallied six points during the run.
The Billikens went cold, however, and a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-2 run helped Chicago State whittle the lead to 45-43 with 38 seconds left.
After SLU committed a turnover with 10 ticks remaining, Palmer’s 3-point attempt from the right corner for the win was partially blocked by Zeke Moore.
Crawford buried a 3-pointer and added another bucket to help Saint Louis gain an early 7-4 lead. But the Billikens went scoreless on seven consecutive possessions, allowing Chicago State to go on top 10-7.
SLU answered with baskets by Bishop and Agbeko, and a trey by Aaron Hines, on three straight possessions to take a 14-10 lead. That was the first part of a 13-0 spurt – aided by a defensive effort that held Chicago State scoreless for more than seven minutes – that resulted in a 20-10 Billiken advantage.
Saint Louis led 22-18 at intermission.
The Billikens play at Southern Illinois Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
