The first thirty minutes of Wednesday night's game at Chaifetz Arena may have been the worst 30 minutes of basketball I have ever watched SLU play. Turnovers, couldn't hit a shot, absolutely no rebounding on either side of the floor. Then, about midway through the second half, Kyle Cassity was hip checked in the lane by a Jacksonville player, no foul was called, and that seemed to rally the troops. The Billikens trailed 43-25 at that point, and went on a 27-7 run to go up 52-50. They held on for a 69-64 win to get their record back to .500 at 4-4.
SLU could do nothing right for the first 30 minutes of the game. The freshmen looked like freshmen, turning the ball over with reckless abandon. Open jump shots were missed, and Jacksonville was showing more intensity on the boards. Despite this, they still trailed by only 10 at the break, 31-21.
Unfortunately, the second half started out looking just like the first.l On their first two possessions SLU was saddled with turnovers by Junior Brian Conklin, which led to two easy buckets for Jacksonville and SLU found themselves down by 14. That lead would swell to 18 before the Billikens went on their torrid run. Emboldened by a barrage of threes and amazing defensive pressure, SLU went up 52-50 and never looked back.
One area that the Billikens have improved dramatically in over the past couple of games is free throw shooting. They went 18 of 23 from the line on Wednesday night, including big shots from the charity stripe by Kyle Cassity and Mike McCall in the waning seconds to preserve the victory.
SLU was led in scoring by Freshman Jordair Jett with 16. Also getting in to double figures were Cassity (14) and Dwayne Evans (12). Evans made it a double/double with 11 rebounds, many of those coming in the final minutes to ice the game. McCall also had a nice overall game with 9 points and 8 assists.
SLU goes on the road to Springfield, MO for its next contest, Saturday night, December 18, against Missouri State. The Bears are 6-3, with no real signature wins to this point. Last time out they were blown out by Oklahoma State 84-70. They are led by 6'6" Junior forward Kyle Weems, who averages just over 15 points per game.
BILLIKENS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tough to pick just one guy. In a comeback like this it truly took a team effort. If I had to single out one guy it would have to be Jordair Jett. He was the leading scorer, and his energy and aggressiveness with the ball keyed SLU's big second half run. He did, however, have six turnovers, and only one assist. He will have to do better than that or he may find himself in Big Rick's doghouse.
DOLPHINS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Keith McDougald led the Dolphins with 12 points, including 2 of 4 from three.
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