Oct. 30, 2009

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ST. LOUIS - Willie Reed nailed all nine of his shots from the field as Saint Louis downed Arkansas-Fort Smith 79-51 in its first exhibition game of the season Friday evening at Chaifetz Arena. Reed finished with a game-high 19 points, while freshman Jon Smith chipped in with 10. The duo shared team-high honors in rebound with seven apiece.

Nearly two minutes into the game, Brian Conklin put the first points on the board for either team with a layup. The teams swapped points before Reed's jumper at 12:59 ignited a 7-0 run by the Billikens. Smith scored on a layup less than a minute later and Femi John's 3-pointer at 11:23 expanded SLU's lead to 17-9.

UA-Fort Smith, which is playing its first season at the NCAA Division II level, scored 10 points over the next five minutes to draw within four at 23-19. But SLU responded with another seven-point burst to go up 30-19. A Christian Salecich layup at 5:42 kicked off the spree and he added a 3-pointer roughly 30 seconds later to put the Bills up 28-19. Reed closed the run with a layup at the four-minute mark to give SLU its largest lead to that point.

SLU headed into the locker room at halftime with a 37-29 advantage. Reed was 6-of-6 from the field to lead all players with 12 points. Smith hit all three of his shots and both free throws for eight points.

The Lions outscored the Bills 7-4 to begin the first half to close the gap to 41-36. However, Saint Louis responded with 17-4 explosion to widen its lead to 58-40. Reed ignited SLU's rally with a layup at 15:13, and then completed a three-point play to make it 46-38. Justin Jordan got into the action with a layup at 13:19 before Reed scored on another dunk to make it 50-38. UAFS's Jason Jackson interrupted the rally with a basket at 12:30. But the Billikens weren't finished as Kyle Cassity added a layup and Conklin recorded a three-point play to finish the run.

SLU would stretch its lead to 20 on a Salecich layup with 8:47 remaining, and the Billikens built their lead all the way to 30 at 75-45 in the final minutes. Jeff Reid nailed a late 3-pointer, and freshman Cory Remekun broke into the scoring column with a late bucket. Smith nailed a jumper as time winded down for the final 79-51 victory.

Saint Louis shot 55 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3-point range. The Lions scored at a 39 percent clip and 29 percent from 3-point land. Josh Simmons led the squad with 11 points, while Dean Neville contributed nine points.

The Billikens continue exhibition play next Saturday, Nov. 7, at 2 p.m. versus St. Ambrose at Chaifetz Arena.