Box Score
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ST. LOUIS, Mo. - #16/15 Saint Louis controlled play in the second half and clinched the Atlantic 10 regular season championship with a 78-54 win over La Salle on Saturday at Chaifetz Arena. The Explorers, which will earn a three or four seed in the A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y. next week depending on the outcome of Sunday's Temple-VCU game, finish the regular season with a 21-8 overall record. The 11 A-10 wins is a program record.
 
"That was about as bad a beating as you could take in the second half," La Salle coach Dr. John Giannini said. "I'm really disappointed with the way we played. They took it to us. They won a lot of individual battles -- maybe all of them in the second half."
 
Junior Tyrone Garland led the Blue and Gold with 15 points, while classmate Tyreek Duren added 13. Sam Mills had 12 points.
 
The Explorers were looking for their third win over a ranked opponent this season, the most since 1954-55, but the home-standing Billikens proved to be too tough on their Senior Day. SLU finishes the regular season with a 24-6, 13-3 A-10 record.
 
La Salle played neck-and-neck with Saint Louis through the first half, despite receiving only four combined points from leading scorers Ramon Galloway and Duren. The hosts took a 31-29 lead into the locker rooms then proceeded to make 17 of the next 20 shots to run away with the contest.
 
Rob Loe led all scorers with 20 points, while Dwayne Evans had 16 points and 17 rebounds. Kwamain Mitchell added 19 for the Billikens.
 
“We gave up some easy baskets,” Mills said. “You can't do that against a big time team like Saint Louis.”
 
“We just have to move on and win the next game,” he said.
 
La Salle will play on Friday at a time to be determined. For all postseason information visit, www.goexplorers.com/postseason13.