January 17, 2009 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO – Kevin Lisch scores 18 points to help Saint Louis to a 63-59 victory over slumping George Washington Saturday night in Atlantic 10 play.

Tommie Liddell III added 14 for the Billikens (11-6, 2-1), who have won nine straight at home.

Wynton Witherspoon led the Colonials (6-9, 0-3) with 15 points and seven rebounds. The loss was the seventh straight for George Washington.

Saint Louis trailed most of the way before making an 8-2 run midway through the second half. Brian Conklin scored seven points during the run, giving the Billikens their first lead since it was 4-2. The last of the points was when he put back a missed free throw to make if 46-44 Saint Louis with 9:08 left.

St. Louis led by 7 but George Washington cut it to 1 point when Witherspoon hit a floater with 40.2 seconds left.

Barry Eberhardt clinched it when he made a basket and a foul shot with 5 seconds left.

January 14, 2009 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO – Tommie Liddell III had 14 points and nine rebounds and Kwamain Mitchell added 14 points to lead Saint Louis over Massachusetts 69-64 on Wednesday night.

Kevin Lisch added 13 points and Paul Eckerle scored 12, all from 3-point range, as the Billikens (10-6, 1-1 Atlantic 10 Conference) won their eighth straight home game.

Chris Lowe led UMass (6-9, 1-1) with 21 points. Ricky Harris added 18 points for the Minutemen, who’ve dropped three of their last four games.

Saint Louis trailed 31-27 at the half in a game that saw 17 lead changes. The Billikens hit just 33 percent of their field goals in the first half but improved to 58 percent in the second.

The Minutemen suffered at the foul line, hitting only 2-of-5 attempts.

January 7, 2009 | AP Press

CINCINNATI, OH — Derrick Brown didn’t miss a shot while scoring 20 points and C.J. Anderson added 13 as No. 18 Xavier rolled to a 70-44 victory over Saint Louis on Thursday night in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams.

Brown was 6-for-6 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and made all five of his free throws.

Jason Love had 11 points for the Musketeers (12-2, 1-0), who have won three straight games after consecutive losses.

Kevin Lisch scored nine points to lead the Billikens (9-6, 0-1), who made a season-low one 3-pointer and saw their three-game winning streak snapped with their worst loss of the season.

The Musketeers, who have won the last two A-10 regular-season championships, never trailed after Brown made a 3-pointer less than a minute into the game. He scored 11 points and Anderson had 10 to lead the Musketeers to a 39-22 halftime lead.

January 2, 2009 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO – Tommie Liddell III scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to lead Saint Louis over North Carolina A&T 60-52 on Friday night.

Willie Reed added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Billikens (9-5), who hit just 6-of-28 field goals in the first half and trailed 35-21 at halftime. Saint Louis committed 10 turnovers in the period.

Thomas Coleman led North Carolina A&T (5-8) with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Tavarus Alston scored 10 points. It was the fifth straight loss for the Aggies, all on the road.

Saint Louis tied the game at 50 with 7:16 remaining in the second half on Reed’s three-point play, then took its first lead of the half when Brian Conklin’s free throw made it 53-52 with 2:38 left to play.

North Carolina A&T did not score in the final 6:57 of the game.

December 30, 2008 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO — Tommie Liddell III had 19 points and six assists, helping Saint Louis beat Maryland-Baltimore County 81-60 for its sixth straight victory at home on Tuesday night.

Freshman Willie Reed added a career-high 18 points while hitting all seven shots for the Billikens (8-5), who are 7-1 at the new Chaifetz Arena with the lone loss in overtime to Kent State. Saint Louis shot 53 percent and had enough depth to win despite a poor game from leading scorer Kevin Lisch, who missed his first six shots and had 10 points.

Darryl Proctor had 29 points and seven rebounds for Maryland-Baltimore County (6-6), which shot 38 percent and failed to build on a two-point victory at Nebraska a week earlier. Proctor was 11-for-18, while the rest of the Retrievers were 10-for-37.

December 23, 2008 | AP Press

LAS VEGAS, NV — Tommie Liddell III had 19 points and six rebounds to lead Saint Louis over Fresno State 56-52 in the third-place game of the Las Vegas Classic on Tuesday night.

Liddell was 7-for-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Kevin Lisch added 15 points for the Billikens (7-5), including four free throws with 11.6 seconds left.

Sylvester Seay paced Fresno State (5-7) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Dwight O’Neil had nine points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Saint Louis, which was outrebounded 33-26, led 25-22 at halftime.

December 22, 2008 | AP Press

LAS VEGAS, NV — Mac Koshwal had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead DePaul to a 65-61 victory over Saint Louis in the third round of the Las Vegas Classic on Monday night.

Koshwal’s basket with 2:53 left put the Blue Demons up for good, 52-51.

Jabari Currie added 12 points for DePaul (7-4), which went 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 1:27. Dar Tucker had 11 points and six rebounds for the Blue Demons, while Will Walker had 10 points.

DePaul plays the winner of the Creighton-Fresno State game in the championship game Tuesday night.

Kevin Lisch led Saint Louis (6-5) with 19 points and freshman guard Kwamain Mitchell tied his career high with 16 points and had five rebounds and five assists.

The Blue Demons’ largest lead was 31-22 with 4:17 left in the first half and they led 33-27 at halftime. Saint Louis took its first lead at 44-43 with 8:22 left.

From the Atlantic 10 Website:

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tommie Liddell – Saint Louis
Senior, Guard, 6-4, 195 lbs.
East St. Louis, Ill./Hargrave Military Acad. (Va.)
Liddell amassed two double-doubles in leading Saint Louis to a pair of victories…scored 12 points and added 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals in the Billikens’ 55-38 win over South Carolina-Upstate on Dec. 17…scored 15 points, grabbed 11 boards and added two steals on Dec. 19 a Saint Louis edged Liberty, 73-70…blocked the potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer to preserve the win over Liberty…leads all A-10 guards with an average of 7.4 rpg…became the first SLU player to register a double-double in consecutive games since Ian Vouyoukas (Dec. 12 / Dec. 16, 2006).

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Eric Evans – Duquesne
Freshman, Guard, 5-11, 195 lbs.
Detroit, Mich./Northwestern HS
Evans earns his second A-10 Rookie of the Week award after averaging 14.5 points and shooting 73.3 percent (11-for-15) over two games…knocked down 8-of-11 shots from the field en route to scoring a season-high 18 points in Duquesne’s 86-60 loss to Old Dominion on Dec. 17…scored all 11 of his points in the second half on Dec. 20 as the Dukes turned aside Rice, 80-64…added three rebounds and two assists and knocked down three-of-six attempts from three-point range on the week.

December 19, 2008 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS — Tommie Liddell III had 15 points and 11 rebounds and blocked a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer to lead Saint Louis to a 73-70 win over Liberty Friday night in the second round of Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.

Kevin Lisch added 20 for the Billikens (6-4), who play DePaul in Las Vegas Monday in the next round of play.

Anthony Smith led the Flames with 21 points and Johnny Stephene added 15. Liberty (7-4) plays Northern Colorado on Monday.

Saint Louis appeared to have the game in hand when Liddell converted a three-point play with 3:58 left to make it 66-49.

But the Flames scored 21 of the next 28 points. Liberty had two chances to tie it but Stephene’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left missed and Liddell blocked Smith’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

December 17, 2008 | AP Press

ST. LOUIS, MO — Tommie Liddell scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Saint Louis to a 55-38 win over USC Upstate Wednesday in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic.

Kevin Lisch and Willie Reed each scored 10 points for the Billikens (5-4). Lisch is now tied for 10th place with Marque Perry on Saint Louis’ all-time scoring list with 1,368 total points.

Saint Louis plays Liberty in its next game of the tourney on Friday night at home before facing DePaul Monday in Las Vegas.

USC Upstate (0-8), was led by Nick Schneiders’ 12 points, while Bobby Davis added 11. The Spartans will play at Fresno State Saturday in their next tournament game.

The Billikens broke open a close game with a 13-2 run capped by a 3-point play by Barry Eberhardt that made it 34-21 with 14:47 left.