SLU’s Gibson Jimerson battles a Dayton defender for the ball during Tuesday’s NCAA men’s basketball game at UD Arena. (Photo: Primo Greenway)

NCAA Men’s Basketball	1	2	Final
Saint Louis University (8-9, 1-3)	30	35	65
#21 Dayton (14-2, 4-0)	28	42	70

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

DAYTON, OH — For the first 20 minutes of Tuesday night’s Atlantic 10 Conference showdown against No. 21-ranked Dayton, the Saint Louis University men’s basketball team did a fantastic job of holding down Dayton scoring star DaRon Holmes II.

Saint Louis held Holmes, the A-10’s leading scorer, to just two points and with that held a two-point lead at halftime.

In the second half though, Holmes found his rhythm and helped his team take flight, as he scored 31 of his season-best 33 points to lead the Flyers to a 70-65 win over the Billikens.

“We had chances but had a lot of self-inflicted wounds in the second half,” SLU head coach Travis Ford said. “They upped their pressure and there were a lot of 50-50 balls we got in the first half we didn’t get in the second. We’re trying to figure out how to get over that hump, on the road especially.”

It’s been an almost night and day difference for the Billikens between home games and road games. In home games, SLU has struggled in the first half, but played fantastic in the second. But in road games, the Billikens have been excellent in the first half, but lost their way in the second.

That continued on Tuesday, as Saint Louis was outscored 42-35 by the Flyers in the second half. Dayton trailed 34-33 at the 17:23 mark. A dunk by Holmes put Dayton on top on its next possession, and it led the rest of the way. Saint Louis hung around by making four 3-pointers in the final five minutes, including one at the buzzer.

“That’s the reason he’s one of the best players in the country,” Ford said of Holmes. “I told our team, he showed character to have that first half and then come back. You earn that in practice. He deserved that.”

Three Billiken players scored in double figures, led by Gibson Jimerson, who had 13 points. Terrence Hargrove, Jr. scored 12 points and Bradley Ezewiro had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Other SLU contributors included Mike Meadows, who had a season-high eights assists, and Sincere Parker, who in his second game back from an injury, played 16 minutes — his most substantial amount of game time since breaking his foot back on November 16.

The Billikens will look to get back on the winning track on Friday, when they’ll face VCU in one of the A-10’s feature games of the week. Tip off is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

Saint Louis University 65

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
03	Ezewiro, Bradley	*	22	5-11	0-0	0-0	2-5	7	1	0	2	0	0	10
24	Jimerson, Gibson	*	37	5-16	3-9	0-0	2-2	4	2	2	1	0	2	13
22	Hargrove Jr., Terrence	*	29	5-10	2-4	0-0	0-5	5	1	0	1	0	0	12
01	Medley, Cian	*	12	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	3	1	0	1	0
02	Hughes II, Larry	*	11	0-2	0-2	0-0	1-2	3	0	0	1	0	0	0
21	Parker, Sincere		16	4-11	1-2	0-1	1-4	5	2	0	1	1	1	9
05	Dalger, Tim		17	2-4	0-2	3-6	2-2	4	2	2	1	0	1	7
07	Meadows Jr., Michael		28	2-5	1-2	0-0	1-0	1	3	8	1	0	0	5
12	Zhang, Bruce		12	1-3	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	2	0	1	1	0	2
00	Thames, Kellen		16	3-4	1-2	0-0	0-5	5	4	0	0	0	0	7
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	3-0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	27-66	8-23	3-7	13-26	39	19	15	10	2	5	65

Dayton 70

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
15	Holmes II,DaRon	*	33	9-13	1-3	10-17	4-10	14	0	1	2	4	2	29
06	Cheeks,Enoch	*	32	3-7	2-5	1-2	2-7	9	1	2	2	1	1	9
24	Elvis,Kobe	*	33	2-7	1-2	3-4	0-0	0	1	3	2	0	1	8
02	Santos,Nate	*	34	3-6	0-2	0-2	2-7	9	3	2	0	0	1	6
00	Bennett,Javon	*	32	2-10	1-8	1-2	1-4	5	4	2	0	0	0	6
04	Brea,Koby		24	3-7	3-7	0-0	0-1	1	1	2	1	0	0	9
13	Jack,Isaac		9	1-3	0-0	1-2	2-0	2	0	0	1	1	1	3
45	Nwokeji,Zimi		3	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	Uhl,Brady		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	23-54	8-28	16-29	12-29	41	11	12	8	6	6	70

2023-24 SLU Billikens Men’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Gametime	At	Opponent	Location	TV	Radio
January 19, 2024 (Friday)	6 pm	Away	VCU	Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center)	ESPN2	KMOX 1120AM
January 24, 2024 (Wednesday)	6 pm	Home	Davidson	Chaifetz Arena	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
January 27, 2024 (Saturday)	7 pm	Home	Massachusetts	Chaifetz Arena	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
January 30, 2024 (Tuesday)	7 pm	Away	Loyola Chicago	Chicago, Ill. (Gentile Arena)	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
February 3, 2024 (Saturday)	1:30 pm	Home	Fordham	Chaifetz Arena	USA Network	KMOX 1120AM
February 7, 2024 (Wednesday)	5:30 pm	Away	La Salle	Philadelphia, Pa. (Gola Arena)	Bally Sports Midwest	KMOX 1120AM
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	#21 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)