Billikens Drop Opener to Austin Peay, 64-62

The SLU basketball team opened their season on Friday night with a home date against the Austin Peay Governors. Unfortunately, the Billiken defense took the first half off, the offense was inconsistent all night, and they shot a dismal 66% from the free throw line, which was a recipe for a 64-62 defeat.

We Billiken fans have become accustomed to stifling defense over the years, so the effort in the first half was extremely disappointing. Peay's guards were getting to the lane at will, and they were doing it without the benefit of screens. They were simply beating our defenders one on one. This led to a lot of easy buckets early, and Peay opened up a 9 point lead at one point in the first half. The Billikens did respond, and pulled to within 4 at half time.

The Billikens came out of the break playing much more inspired on the defensive side of the ball. They put two mini runs on the Governors mid-way through the second half to grab a 54-46 lead on a Kyle Cassity three with about 11 minutes to play, but that was as good as it would get. From that point forward SLU was outscored 18-8 for a final score of 64-62.

The regular season debut of 6'11" freshman Rob Loe was especially disappointing. Loe did not show any touch on his long rang jumpers, looked clumsy when he tried to go to the hoop, and tried to play defense with his hips instead of his feet. Loe fouled out with about 5 minutes to play, having scored only 7 points. He is only a freshman, but he has a lot of work to do.

The Billikens get right back at it on Monday night agaist Division II opponent Rockhurst at Chaifetz. Tip off at 7:00 PM.

Billiken Player of the Game

Kyle Cassity showed that he will likely be the leader of this team for the year. He was the only Billiken who showed any real desire to get to the bucket on offense, and he played his typical solid defense. Cassity finished with 16 points and 5 assists in 34 minutes of play.

Governors Player of the Game

Tyshwan Edmondson gave the Billikens fits all night with his quickness and ability to change directions in the backcourt. He got into the lane at will, and was solid from the free throw line. The guard finsihed with 17 points and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes of action.