While some may differ in opinion as to exactly how many wins—or losses, for that matter—comprise a streak, one thing is for sure when it comes to the Saint Louis University basketball team: they have won three games in a row. While that may not indicate any long-lasting trend, the ping-pong match that had been their life recently has ended, as they topped Xavier 61-47 at the Savvis Center Sunday.

The Billikens recently ended a 21-game span where they didn’t have a consecutive win or loss. Instead, they went back-and-fort with one win and one loss dating back to last season. On Sunday, SLU’s defense was rock-solid, holding XU to 19-of-54 shooting (35.2 percent) and keeping all but one Musketeer under double-digit scoring. Brian Thornton scored 11 for Xavier.

Ian Vouyoukas, who scored 14 points, played a big part in the Billikens defensive pressure. He grabbed nine rebounds, made all five of SLU’s blocks and had two steals. SLU had nine steals on the day. Xavier committed 17 turnovers altogether, which SLU turned into 20 points. Meanwhile XU converted SLU’s 11 turnovers into just six points.

Lisch’s three-pointer with 13:08 remaining in the first half broke a 7-7 tie and gave the Billikens a 10-7 lead, an advantage they’d never relinquish. The freshman finished with 15 points to lead SLU.

With the win, the Billikens improved to 12-9 on the season and 6-3 in the Atlantic 10. It moved them into a second-place tie with Charlotte in the A-10 standings. 10th ranked George Washington is in first place with an 8-0 mark in conference play. Xavier is now 13-6 overall and 5-4 in the conference.