Saint Louis defeated Massachusetts 86-72 Friday afternoon in the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship quarterfinals at Robins Center in Richmond, Va.
Javonte Perkins posted a team-best 25 points, and Jordan Goodwin collected his 14th double-double on the season, recording 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Yuri Collins connected on two shots from behind the arc, on his way to tying a career high of 17 points. The sophomore also dished out five assists and grabbed five rebounds.
The Billikens outrebounded UMass 45-22 in the game, including 15-3 on the offensive glass.
Fred Thatch Jr. and Marten Linssen each tallied nine points, while Hasahn French scored eight and grabbed 11 rebounds.
SLU used a 10-0 run in the first half to pull ahead 30-13 at 7:03. UMass crawled back to within seven at 2:58, but the Billikens responded with an 8-0 spurt to go up 46-31 in the final minute.
The Minutemen cut SLU’s advantage back to single digits with a score of 65-56 at 9:30 in the second half.
Perkins and Collins combined for the final 10 Billiken points, with eight coming at the free throw line, and SLU went on to beat UMass 86-72.
Tre Mitchell posted a game-high 30 points, along with six rebounds, to lead the Minutemen.
The No. 4 seeded Billikens will square off with regular season conference champion St. Bonaventure in the semifinals on Saturday. Tipoff is at 5 p.m. (CT)
