Saint Louis University Billikens Jordair Jett (5) runs through the pack in the first half as he scores two of his 16 points against the George Washington Colonials at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on February 22, 2014. Saint Louis won the game 66-59. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
Jordair Jett scored a team-high 16 points and Rob Loe finished one rebound shy of a double-double as No. 10 Saint Louis defeated George Washington 66-59 Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena.
The victory, SLU’s 19th in a row, improved its record to 25-2 overall and 12-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. GW fell to 20-7 overall and 8-5 in the league.
Jett, who came into the game averaging 18.1 points in A-10 play, scored his 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and was 4 of 7 from the line. He also dished out four assists and recorded two steals.
Loe was 6 of 12 from the field and finished with 12 points. He also gathered nine rebounds. Grandy Glaze finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Mike McCall Jr. and Austin McBroom contributed eight points apiece.
“These kids, they’re resilient,” SLU head coach Jim Crews said. “They can take a hit – and we took some hits, because they keep hitting and keep competing – and made some big plays. I thought Grandy was superb tonight. He gave us a lot of energy both offensively and defensively. Rob is really playing well. Jordair played good. Austin hit some big free throws and a couple big shots for us. That was a really great win for us.”
The Billikens, who shot 55.2 percent in the opening half, led 39-27 at halftime. But the Colonials used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to tie the ballgame at 50-all with 9:18 remaining.
Saint Louis responded in a big way, going on an 8-0 spurt jump-started by a Loe jumper. McCall buried a pair of free throws, Glaze hit a layup and McCall ended the rally with a layup to put the Billikens on top 58-50.
A Jake Barnett triple made it 62-52 Billikens with less than three minutes to play, but GW scored the next seven points to make it a three-point game with 1:25 left. From that point forward, the Colonials took two 3-pointers to attempt to tie it up, but both were off the mark. On the other end, McBroom and McCall each buried two free throws with under 20 seconds to go, and SLU hung on for the seven-point victory.
The Billikens return to action Thursday, Feb. 27, when they take on Duquesne at Chaifetz Arena in a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
Story courtesy of SLUBillikens.com
