Gibson Jimerson scored a game-high 24 points, including the deciding 3-pointer in the final minute, and Yuri Collins broke the Atlantic 10 Conference career assists record in Saint Louis’ 76-71 victory over Rhode Island Tuesday in A-10 men’s basketball action at Chaifetz Arena.
SLU improves to 16-8 overall and 8-3 in the league. The Billikens are a half-game out of first place in the league standings. Rhode Island dips to 8-15 and 4-7 in the league.
It is the second straight game that Jimerson scored a season-high 24 points. They came on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. He buried the go-ahead 3-pointer for the Billikens with 31 seconds left, which gave SLU the lead for good.
Collins finished with 15 points and eight assists, and in doing so became the A-10’s all-time career assists leader, surpassing Jacob Gilyard’s 783 career assists he accumulated during his career at Richmond. The record-breaking assist came on a Sincere Parker 3-pointer.
Terrence Hargrove Jr. posted season highs of 12 points and nine rebounds. Francis Okoro (11 points) and Parker (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Billikens, who shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the second half.
Saint Louis led by one at halftime and by as many as eight in the second half, but Rhode Island didn’t go down quietly. The Rams, who were led by Ishmael Leggett’s 20 points, went on a 10-2 run late in the game to tie the score at 71-71 with 1:24 to go. Rhody later had the ball with the chance to take the lead, but their shot was off the mark.
On the ensuing possession, Jimerson nailed a trey, and Parker followed by making two free throws to put SLU on top by five, and the Bills hung on for the win.
Next up for the Billikens is a showdown at Dayton Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2. The Flyers, just a half-game back of the Billikens in the standings, knocked of first-place VCU tonight in Richmond.
