Saint Louis fell 82-75 at La Salle on Wednesday night in Atlantic 10 Conference men’s basketball action at Gola Arena.
The loss drops SLU to 7-3 overall and 0-2 in the league. La Salle improves to 8-10 overall and 5-6 in A-10 play.
The Billikens received a team-high 13 points from Javonte Perkins. He also posted career highs of three steals and two blocks. Fred Thatch Jr. recorded a season-high 12 points and added a career-best nine rebounds. Jordan Goodwin posted 12 points and six boards.
Jimmy Bell Jr. scored eight points and added five rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Gibson Jimerson nailed three treys en route to nine points.
Nine different Billikens scored for SLU, who shot a season-low 40.3 percent from the field.
La Salle shot 8-of-19 from 3-point range and was led by David Beatty’s 22 points.
The Billikens built an early eight-point lead, as Demarius Jacobs scored three-straight fast-break baskets as part of an 8-0 SLU rally. But La Salle answered back and slowly chipped away at the deficit, then ended the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 36-32 lead into the break.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half before a Jimerson triple at the 11:54 mark gave SLU a 49-48 lead.
Later, a big Bell traditional 3-point play put SLU on top by a point at 54-53. But the Billikens could draw no closer than that, and La Salle would later answer with an 8-0 to grab a lead it would not relinquish.
SLU returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it takes on St. Bonaventure at Chaifetz Arena. Game time is 1 p.m., and it will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
