SLU head coach Travis Ford celebrates as his team leaves the floor following its Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament win, Tuesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (Photo courtesy: Atlantic 10 Conference)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| #14 SLU (13-19) | 41 | 33 | 74 |
| #11 Rhode Island (12-20) | 32 | 39 | 71 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
BROOKLYN, NY — No. 14 seed Saint Louis University won its Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Championship first round game, 74-71, over No. 11 seed Rhode Island, Tuesday evening at the Barclays Center.
Saint Louis got 26 points from Gibson Jimerson, 18 points from Terrence Hargrove, Jr., and played a stellar defensive game, as it grabbed the lead in the final 80 seconds and held on til the final buzzer for the win.
“A lot of life lessons are being learned right now, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about,” SLU head coach Travis Ford said. “We don’t know what will happen (Wednesday), but we’ll be playing and see what happens. I don’t think a lot of people believe in this team or thought we’d be sitting here with a win. … We’ve been through a lot, and we’ve talked about it a lot the last couple of days.”
The Billikens led the entire first half, but lost the lead midway through the second half. In some games in the past, SLU would have folded and had their season end with another disappointing loss.
But the Billikens rallied back to get the lead for good when Hargrove hit two free throws with 1:20 left in the game. Rhode Island missed two shots on its next possession and that led to a fast break layup for Jimerson that gave SLU a 71-67 edge with 27 seconds left.
The Rams made a couple of free throws of their own to get within two points with 19 seconds left, but Jimerson made three free throws in the final 16 seconds to ice the game away for Saint Louis.
“It was about staying calm,” Hargrove said. “I’ve been in that situation a thousand times. It’s keeping the guys calm. Basketball is a game of runs. I told the guys we can’t just lay down.”
Ford said his team was “absolutely exhausted” in the season half, but spoke about how proud he was to see his team work through it.
“To lose a lead and respond, I’m really proud, especially with what we’re going through,” Ford said. “It would be easy to say, ‘We gave it a good shot.’ What this team has done the last couple of weeks is (from) their mentality. I don’t know if we’ll have anything left (Wednesday), but we’ll give it a shot.”
The Billikens (13-19) will play sixth-seeded Duquesne in the tournament second round on Wednesday. Tip off is slated for 6:30 p.m., with the game scheduled to be televised nationally on the USA Network.
“This definitely has not been the season you want, but that happens in life,” Ford said. “I told the team I love being around them. I don’t know if I would have made it through if not for them. They are a good group that keeps coming to practice and people around them keep being amazed. Usually teams give up at this point.”
Saint Louis University 74
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Jimerson, Gibson | * | 39 | 8-22 | 3-10 | 7-8 | 0-4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
| 22 | Hargrove Jr., Terrence | * | 36 | 6-9 | 2-4 | 4-4 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| 03 | Ezewiro, Bradley | * | 23 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 2-9 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 01 | Medley, Cian | * | 34 | 3-8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 02 | Hughes II, Larry | * | 24 | 1-5 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 00 | Thames, Kellen | 27 | 3-6 | 0-1 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 15 | van Bussel, Stef | 13 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 5-1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| 12 | Zhang, Bruce | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 28-59 | 6-22 | 12-20 | 9-26 | 35 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 74 |
Rhode Island 71
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | House,Jaden | * | 34 | 8-12 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 23 | Green,David | * | 23 | 4-11 | 2-5 | 4-6 | 0-6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 01 | Kortright,Luis | * | 37 | 3-6 | 0-2 | 4-5 | 1-5 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 24 | Fuchs,David | * | 27 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2-1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 20 | Weston,Brandon | * | 21 | 2-6 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 04 | Estevez,Cam | 20 | 3-6 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 00 | Montgomery,Zek | 25 | 1-8 | 0-1 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 10 | Brown,Tyson | 13 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 25-54 | 6-19 | 15-24 | 8-25 | 33 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 71 |
2023-24 SLU Billikens Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 13 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament | 6:30 pm | Neutral | #6 Duquesne | Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclay’s Center) | USA Network | KMOX Radio |