ST. LOUIS – Isaiah Swope tied his career high of 30 points, Kalu Anya posted a double-double of 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, and Saint Louis improved to 3-2 with an 81-67 victory over Quinnipiac Monday night at Chaifetz Arena.
Gibson Jimerson scored 16 points and passed Erwin Claggett for second place on SLU’s career list. Jimerson now has 1,916 points.
Robbie Avila returned to the lineup following a three-game injury absence and contributed 14 points and six rebounds.
Swope equaled his season high with a game-high six assists, while Kobe Johnson dished out a season-best four helpers.
Paul Otieno led Quinnipiac of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Khaden Bennett chipped in 14 points, while Amarri Monroe and Alexis Reyes grabbed eight rebounds apiece.
Leading 50-49 with just over 11 minutes to play, Saint Louis embarked on a 15-4 spurt to surge in front 65-53. The Billikens were 7-of-7 from the floor during the outburst and got scoring from four different players, including seven from Swope.
Quinnipiac responded with an 11-5 run to cut the lead in half, 70-64, with 2:30 remaining. But Swope restored order with the last of his five 3-pointers, and SLU scored the rest of its points from the foul line while holding Quinnipiac to a free throw and a meaningless late field goal down the stretch.
Quinnipiac led for most of the first half, scoring the first five points of the game and building a seven-point advantage inside of five minutes.
Jimerson ignited an 11-3 flurry with a 3-pointer and Swope buried two from beyond the arc, including one with four seconds left that put the Billikens on top 37-36 at intermission.
Quinnipiac began the second half with an 8-2 run for a 44-39 edge. Saint Louis answered by scoring eight of the next 10 points to take the lead for good, 47-46, at the 15:56 mark.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Billikens as they host UMass Lowell Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.
