Saint Louis came up clutch when it mattered in an 80-74 victory over the Rhode Island Rams Wednesday night at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island.
The Billikens improved to 20-10 overall and 11-6 in A-10 play with the victory. SLU remains in the hunt for the fourth-seed at the next week’s A-10 Championship in Washington, D.C. Rhode Island fell to 14-14 and 5-11 in the league.
Yuri Collins dished out nine assists, and in the process became the Billikens’ single-season assists leader, breaking Jim Roder’s school-record total of 235 assists that he set in the 1986-87 season. Collins now owns the Billikens’ career assists record, the season record, and the single-game record.
Fred Thatch Jr. scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Gibson Jimerson hit five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 22 points.
Collins finished with a rare “quadruple nickel” of 10 points, nine assists, five rebounds and five steals.
The Billikens trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half before a late charge put SLU on top 39-33 at halftime. Jimerson hit a pair of treys as part of a 9-0 run. Thatch then nailed a triple at the first-half buzzer to send the Bills into the locker room with the six-point lead.
Saint Louis carried the same energy it had late in the first half into the second session. Francis Okoro scored seven early points in the second half to give SLU a double-digit cushion. A Jimerson 3-pointer put SLU on top by 15.
But then Rhode Island rallied back, and lead changed hands a few times before the Billikens put it out of reach with a strong final two minutes. With the Bills clinging to a two-point lead, Thatch nailed a big triple to put SLU up five. He then had a steal on the ensuing possession, which eventually led to a Jordan Nesbitt dunk, and the Billikens were in control from there en route to the six-point win.
The Billikens welcome in the VCU Rams Saturday for a critical A-10 showdown at Chaifetz Arena. Game time on ESPN2 is 3 p.m.
