Feb. 6, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Jerrell Williams poured in 21 points to tie his career high, but Saint Louis outlasted the Explorers in a tightly contested contest at a snowy Tom Gola Arena on Saturday. The loss drops the Explorers to 11-12 (3-6 Atlantic 10), while the Billikens move to 14-8, 5-3 in the A-10.
The snow-hardy fans in attendance at Gola Arena were treated to Yves Mekongo's 1,000th point as well as a nail-biter that featured 10 ties and seven lead changes.
Mekongo needed just five points coming into today's contest to hit the millennium mark, and he became La Salle's 48th 1,000 point scorer - and third of this year's senior class - with a jumper at 6:55 remaining in the first half. He finished with 11 points for the game.
Steve Weingarten was one rebound shy of a double-double as he put in 12 points and pulled down nine boards. Rodney Green finished with 10 points.
SLU's Kwamain Mitchell led all scorers with a career-high 25 points. Willie Reed added 21 and Cody Ellis chipped in 14.
The Explorers took control of the game early, jumping out to a 21-10 lead almost halfway through the first stanza, before an Ellis trey sparked the Billikens to a 10-2 run that closed the gap to 25-23 at 3:33. Ellis hit a free throw to knot the game at 27 apiece at the 2:34 mark and the Billikens took a 34-32 lead into the break.
The Blue and Gold opened the second half with a 15-5 run capped off by a Weingarten jumper to take a 47-39 lead with 14:55 remaining. However, the Billikens had yet another answer as they opened a 12-3 run of their own to regain the lead at 51-50 at the 11:11 point and pushed the lead to as many as nine with 5:48 left.
The Explorers promptly responded with an 11-0 run over three minutes to go up 65-63 with 2:12 remaining. Williams netted seven of his points in that run but was whistled with his fifth foul at 1:56.
The score was tied for the 10th time at 65-all with 55 seconds remaining, but Mitchell converted 4-of-4 free throws down the stretch and a last-second desperation heave by Parrish Grant rimmed out for the final 68-65 score.
The Explorers held a 34-30 rebounding advantage and shot 82.6 percent from the free throw line, but struggled from behind the arc. They hit only two of 13 3-point attempts, while the Billikens went 7-for-17.
The squad now hits the road for two games, starting with a contest at Duquesne next Sunday (2/14) at 2:00 PM and then on Wednesday (2/18) at Dayton at 7:00 PM.
