After 58 years, Ehler retiring
Funeral for Miami student manager
Winter weather photos
St. Louis has fun at UD's expense
Flyers fail to spoil the party in 57-49 loss, fall into a first-place tie with Xavier in A-10.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Dayton's London Warren (left) goes up for a shot against Saint Louis' Willie Reed during the first half of their game Saturday, Feb. 21. Associated Press photo by Whitney CurtisST. LOUIS — Saint Louis students taunted Dayton with "overrated" chants and then stormed the court when it was over. The crowd stuck around and sang along as the pep band played Neil Diamond's, "Sweet Caroline."
Thousands of revelers descended on St. Louis this weekend to take part in the second-largest Mardi Gras celebration in the nation, but those folks may have come out a distant second on the fun quotient to the basketball fans who filled Chaifetz Arena to capacity.
Playing before a blue-clad, sell-out crowd of 10,603, Saint Louis broke open a snug Atlantic 10 tussle with efficient play down the stretch for a 57-49 win over 25th-ranked Dayton on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Protecting a three-point lead, the Billikens (17-10, 7-5 A-10) went nearly five minutes late in the game without scoring, but the Flyers could manage only a single free throw in that span. A three-point play by Kwamain Mitchell ended the drought with 3:25 to go, giving Saint Louis a 47-42 edge.
The Flyers (23-4, 9-3), who fell into a first-place tie in the league with Xavier (Temple is a half-game back), cut the difference to two on a pair of foul shots by Chris Wright with 1:44 to go. But a 3-pointer from the corner by Barry Eberhardt with 1:11 left gave the Billikens a five-point lead, and a UD turnover sealed the decision.
The Flyers, who trailed by as many as 10 in the first half, played without two of their top five scorers: freshman forward Chris Johnson, who didn't dress because of a bruised calf, and junior point guard Rob Lowery, who is out for the season with a knee injury.
Wright's foul woes
UD's Wright picked up his second foul with 17:38 left in the first half on a charge during a dunk and played just four first-half minutes. The sophomore forward has fouled out three times this season.
Stat of the game
The Flyers made just 13-of-24 free throws after a 21-for-39 effort in their previous outing against Richmond.
Quote
"At times, we were not as smart and, once again, we were poor at the free-throw line," UD coach Brian Gregory said.
