Hasahn French made his first four shots of the night and ended up leading Saint Louis with 15 points and nine rebounds in a big Atlantic 10 Conference victory over Richmond, 72-67 on Friday night at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens (12-5, 5-4 A-10) remain in the hunt for a double-bye in the A-10 Championship, which begins next week in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond falls to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in league play.
It was French’s second-straight big game after he scored 21 the game prior at VCU. Against Richmond, he finished 6-of-13 shooting from the field. In addition to his nine rebounds, he dished out three assists and posted three blocked shots.
Javonte Perkins scored 15 points and tied a season-high with seven boards. Jordan Goodwin turned in 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Fred Thatch Jr. chipped in nine points, including a big 3-pointer in the second half. Marten Linssen went for eight points on 4-of-4 shooting. Terrence Hargrove Jr. hit a pair of treys for six points.
The Billikens shot 51.9 percent from the field for the game, which included a 65.2 percent clip in the second half. SLU outrebounded the Spiders 41-21.
Blake Francis led Richmond with 24 points.
French scored the Billikens’ first eight points of the game, and SLU never trailed in the first half. The Bills engineered a 13-0 run and led 33-24 at halftime.
The second half saw six ties and 12 lead changes as the teams went back-and-forth midway through the final session.
Richmond used a 14-2 spurt to grab its first lead of the game at 47-45 with 12:09 left. It remained a one possession game until the 2:59 mark, when Thatch buried a big 3-pointer. Thatch then drove the paint for another basket to give SLU a 68-62 advantage with 2:18 remaining.
A Linssen jam with less than a minute left put SLU on top by seven, and they held on to post the 72-67 victory.
Saint Louis concludes the regular season on Monday when it hosts UMass at Chaifetz Arena. The game will tip at 5 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Senior Night festivities will take place after the game.
