SLU’s Larry Hughes II makes a move with the ball, as La Salle’s Khalil Brantley defends during Wednesday’s NCAA men’s basketball game in Philadelphia. (Photo courtesy: SLU Athletics)

NCAA Men’s Basketball	1	2	Final
SLU (9-14, 2-8)	51	51	102
La Salle (11-12, 2-8)	39	45	84

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team came into Wednesday night’s game against La Salle having lost its previous six in a row.

A big reason why is because Saint Louis hadn’t played a complete offensive game since its last win on January 10.

On Wednesday though, the Billikens found their rhythm early and it lasted the entire 40 minutes, for what proved to be a thrilling and losing streak-ending, 102-84 win over the host Explorers.

The 102 points were the most Saint Louis had ever scored in an Atlantic 10 Conference game, topping the 96 points SLU scored in a game against Davidson in January 2016.

“We got off to a great start, and that was a big key,” SLU head coach Travis Ford said. “We had a lot of guys contribute, which was good to see. We’ve been talking about that a little bit. When you’re scoring like that, it gives you a lot of confidence. Sincere had a big night, but a lot of others played extremely well. I could feel from the bench how guys were feeding off of it.”

The Billikens led from start to finish, with 10 of the 11 SLU players that played in the game scoring at least one point.

Junior guard Sincere Parker led the way by scoring a career-high 33 points. He hit 10-of-14 shots, including four three-pointers, and also made all nine free throws he took.

Fellow junior Bradley Ezewiro had 16 points, while sophomores Larry Hughes II and Kellen Thames had 13 and 12 points, respectively. Veteran leaders Terrence Hargrove and Gibson Jimerson each had nine points, but seemed more than happy to let the young guys lead the way on a night when everyone wearing Billiken blue was scoring with ease.

Saint Louis shot a sizzling 64.5 percent (20-of-31) in the first half to jump out to a 51-39 halftime lead.

In the second half, SLU cooled off a bit and shot just 48 percent (16-of-33). But even that total was better than what La Salle shot in either half and it helped the Billikens build a lead to as many as 18 points midway through the second half and 23 points heading into the final 90 seconds of the game, when they finally called the dogs off.

The victory, which snapped an 11-game road losing streak, dating back to last season, lifted SLU’s record to 9-14 overall and 2-8 in the A-10.

“You hope it’s the start of something. We can’t be satisfied,” Ford said. “We know who we are. We have to be overachievers and play together. We did better tonight. Guys were playing at a higher level. Road wins are always great. We know it’s going to be even tougher Saturday.”

The Billikens will stay in Philadelphia for the next few days to get ready for their next game, which will come Saturday against Saint Joseph’s. The Hawks were the team SLU defeated in that game on January 10, and coming off Wednesday’s performance, Saint Louis should go in with a good bit of confidence.

“The guys have been having a great attitude and playing hard,” Ford said. “I thought they had the last couple of games. I wouldn’t have said that two or three weeks ago. The work has been good, and tonight, we made some shots.”

Tip off for Saturday’s game is slated for 11:30 a.m., with the game being televised nationally on the USA Network.

Saint Louis University 102

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
03	Ezewiro, Bradley	*	24	6-14	0-0	4-6	5-2	7	1	0	2	2	0	16
02	Hughes II, Larry	*	34	5-10	3-8	0-0	0-2	2	5	3	1	0	2	13
24	Jimerson, Gibson	*	37	4-7	1-3	0-0	0-2	2	3	3	0	0	2	9
22	Hargrove Jr., Terrence	*	32	2-6	1-4	4-4	0-5	5	2	0	1	0	0	9
01	Medley, Cian	*	14	2-3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	4	6	3	0	1	4
21	Parker, Sincere		18	10-14	4-5	9-9	2-4	6	3	3	0	0	1	33
00	Thames, Kellen		22	5-7	0-0	2-4	0-6	6	3	0	2	0	2	12
04	Curcic, Djordje		10	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	1	0	1	0	0	2
12	Zhang, Bruce		5	0-1	0-0	2-2	1-0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2
15	van Bussel, Stef		3	1-1	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
33	Evans IV, Lamont		1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-4	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	36-64	9-20	21-25	10-27	37	23	15	10	2	8	102

La Salle 84

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
35	Jocius,Rokas	*	24	7-9	2-3	3-5	2-3	5	3	0	1	0	0	19
05	Brantley,Khalil	*	37	6-13	2-6	4-5	4-6	10	3	2	2	0	3	18
00	Marrero,Andres	*	22	2-9	2-5	2-3	1-0	1	3	3	1	0	0	8
34	Vahlberg Fasasi,Tunde	*	17	1-4	1-3	0-0	1-1	2	4	1	0	0	1	3
02	Brickus,Jhamir	*	37	1-6	0-3	0-0	0-2	2	1	6	3	0	0	2
03	Gill,Anwar		30	7-18	2-4	8-10	1-4	5	1	1	1	0	0	24
21	Zan,Ryan		12	1-3	1-2	2-2	2-1	3	2	0	1	1	0	5
25	Mercandino,Lucas		3	0-1	0-1	3-4	0-1	1	1	0	0	0	0	3
12	Gardler,Tommy		2	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2
13	Shepherd,Daeshon		12	0-2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Joseph,Jay		2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	Kovacevic,Milos		2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	3-1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	26-66	10-28	22-29	14-20	34	19	13	10	1	4	84

2023-24 SLU Billikens Men’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Gametime	At	Opponent	Location	TV	Radio
February 10, 2024 (Saturday)	11:30 am	Away	Saint Joseph’s	Philadelphia, Pa. (Hagan Arena)	USA Network	KMOX 1120AM
February 16, 2024 (Friday)	6 pm	Home	VCU	Chaifetz Arena	ESPN2	KMOX 1120AM
February 20, 2024 (Tuesday)	6 pm	Away	Duquesne	Pittsburgh, Pa. (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse)	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
February 24, 2024 (Saturday)	2 pm	Home	George Washington	Chaifetz Arena	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
February 28, 2024 (Wednesday)	7 pm	Home	Richmond	Chaifetz Arena	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
March 2, 2024 (Saturday)	3 pm	Away	Rhode Island	Kingston, R.I. (Ryan Center)	CBSSN	KMOX 1120AM
March 5, 2024 (Tuesday)	8 pm	Home	Dayton	Chaifetz Arena	CBSSN	KMOX 1120AM
March 9, 2024 (Saturday)	11:30 am	Away	St. Bonaventure	St. Bonaventure, N.Y. (Reilly Center)	USA Network	KMOX 1120AM
March 12-17 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament	TBA	Neutral	TBA	Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclay’s Center)