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March 11, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Kwamain Mitchell scored 18 points, including a layup with 1.8 seconds left in overtime, to lift Saint Louis to a 62-60 victory over La Salle in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Kevin Lisch added 11 points for the Billikens (18-13, 9-8), who snapped a three-game losing streak to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 19 Xavier, the tourney’s top seed. Rodney Green had a game-high 24 points for the Explorers (18-13, 9-8), while Kimmani Barrett had 10 points.

Green’s floater gave La Salle a 60-58 lead with 1:10 left in overtime, but Tommie Liddell tied it with a layup with 42 seconds left. After La Salle’s Darryl Partin missed a layup with 10 seconds left, Mitchell drove right and scored on a high-arcing layup to put St. Louis up two.

Green’s desperation shot from halfcourt at the buzzer missed.