 Bills Roll In Exhibition Opener, 84-50
Nov. 3, 2006
ST. LOUIS -- Junior swingman Danny Brown poured in 18 points to lead host Saint Louis past Missouri-St. Louis 84-50 in a men's basketball exhibition game tonight at Scottrade Center. Senior center Ian Vouyoukas chipped in 14 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the exhibition opener for the Billikens. "I'm happy that we got to play everybody a fair amount," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "The things we have been working on during the last 18 practices, I saw them on the court tonight. I know there were some errors, so we have things we can pinpoint starting tomorrow. It is just good to get the season underway." Sophomore guard Kevin Lisch nailed a three ball from the top of the key to spark an 11-0 run to start the game. A bucket from sophomore guard Tommie Liddell and a pair of free throws each from Vouyoukas and junior forward Luke Meyer put the Billikens up early. A Lisch fast break layin capped the 11-0 rally as SLU put the game out of reach early. Vouyoukas stretched the lead to 17-2 at the 13:46 mark with a rare three-pointer. Last season, the center only took five attempts from long range, with all of them falling off the mark. UMSL struggled to a 25.8 shooting percentage in the first session as the Billikens countered with 50-percent shooting from the field, including Liddell's 5-of-6 clip in the first session for a then-game high 10 points. In the second half, Brown delivered on a fast break dunk at the 9:30 mark, much to the delight of the Scottrade Center crowd. Redshirt-freshman forward Obi Ikeakor hit a three in the final minute and laid one in at the buzzer to hand the Billikens the 84-50 victory.
All players got into the game for the Billikens, including Ikeakor who hit 3-5 from the field and nailed his one long-range jumper for nine points. He also pulled down four boards in just nine minutes of action. Brown hit four threes en route to his game-high 18 points. Polk and Lisch each dished out a game-high seven assists. For the Rivermen, Brett Ledbetter hit five-of-11 from three-point range to lead UMSL with 15 points. David Ward just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. The Billikens conclude their exhibition schedule on Wed., Nov. 8, when they entertain Harris-Stowe at Scottrade Center. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. |
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