Box Score ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis scored six of the game's final eight points Saturday night and held on to take down visiting SIUE 67-61 in nonconference men's basketball in front of 6,032 at Chaifetz Arena.
"It's a step in the right direction," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester. "I don't believe in moral victories, because we do want to win. We have to continue to make strides as a basketball team towards getting better and tonight I thought we got better as a team. We just have to continue to do so."
SIUE (1-6) lost for the sixth consecutive game. Saint Louis (6-4) snapped a two-game losing streak with the win.
Saint Louis led 60-56 with 1:45 to play when Maurice Wiltz drained a three-pointer to pull the Cougars within one at 60-59. The Billikens' Davell Roby was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit one of two free throws to extend the lead to two. After a Cougar miss, Ash Yocoubou put SLU on top 63-59 with a layup. Donivine Stewart was fouled and hit two free throws to bring the Cougars back within two (63-61) with 21 seconds left. Austin McBroom and John Manning both hit a pair of free throws in the final 19 seconds for the final margin.
"We had a great week of practice," Forrester said. "Our guys came out and got after it to get better as a basketball team. I feel bad for them because they fought pretty hard tonight and just came up on the short end of the stick."
SIUE shot 41.1 percent (23-56) for the game and just 37 percent (10-27) in the first half and trailed 37-34 at the break. Saint Louis connected on 54.8 percent (23-42) of its shots for the game. SIUE forced a season-high 18 turnovers and scored 17 points as a result. The Cougars tied a season-high with 16 turnovers of their own. SLU also scored 17 points off of turnovers.
Kris Davis led all scorers with 18 points. The senior now has 1,022 career points to move into 13th place on SIUE's career scoring list. Stewart added 12 points and a game-high seven assists. Grant Fiorentinos played 30 minutes off the bench and scored a career-high 10 points. Fiorentinos drained the first three-pointer of his career (on his first-ever attempt) early in the first half. The junior center added an assist, a block, a steal, and took a pair of charges.
"Grant came in and played a tremendous game for us," Forrester said. "He helped keep us in the game with hustle plays and by did some good things."
Keaton Jackson scored seven points and hauled in a game-best seven rebounds. For the game the Cougars edged the Billikens 29-28 on the boards.
McBroom led the Billikens with 13 points. Yacoubou chipped in 10 points.
SIUE next travels to Campbell for a Wednesday night game in Buis Creek, N.C.
"It doesn't get any easier. Our guys played with great energy tonight," Forrester added. "We have to bring the same intensity and even more to get a win at Campbell next Wednesday."
