SLU avoids Bee Sting

Saint Louis University found itself in a struggle with NAIA St. Ambrose on Saturday, but a late 13-0 run led to a 61-47 victory in the Billikens second preseason game at the Chaifetz Arena.
With just under nine minutes left in the game, the Billikens found themselves locked in a 43-43 tie with St. Ambrose, which is located in Davenport, Iowa.
SLU jumped out to an early 11-point lead with some hot shooting by guard Kwamain Mitchell, who scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half.
However, the Fighting Bees slowly reeled in the Billikens and closed the gap to 33-28 at halftime. A pair of 3-pointers by St. Ambrose's top player Mike Kennedy to open the second half gave the Fighting Bees' the lead at 34-33.
The Chaifetz Arena grew silent and I was thinking to myself, "Okay guys, let's not have another LeMoyne over Syracuse moment today."
My fears were put to rest when the Billikens turned up the defense responded with a 13-0 spurt to that turned a 43-43 tie into a 56-43 advantage.
Mitchell had the top scoring honors for today with 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal. After a two for 15 shooting performance in the Bills' opener last week against Fort Smith, you knew that Kwamain would come out smoking. And he did with nine quick points and 17 in the first half.
As good as Mitchell was, the standout of the game was freshman guard Jeff Reid (pictured). Jeff scored only five points and had one field goal, but he turned the game around with several big-time hustle plays that really energized the team.
After playing only eight minutes last week, the least on the team, Jeff played a lot more this week and continued to make one hustle play after another. Whether he was diving out of bounds to make saves, grabbing offensive rebounds off missed free throws or playing stellar defense on their top player, Kennedy, Reid earned himself some more playing time. Several of those hustle plays led directly to Billiken baskets.
It was good to see a young man who was a scorer in high school figure out how to get himself on the floor and stay there by doing other things than put the ball through the hoop.
Willie Reed scored eight points, all in the second half. After scoring 19 points and shooting a perfect 9 for 9 in the preseason opener, St. Ambrose made sure Willie was not going to get loose in the post. They constantly sagged defenders around Reed and forced the Bills to take perimeter shots.
Freshman Justin Jordan hit two 3-pointers as did fellow frosh Christian Salecich, who scored eight points. Both freshman guards have displayed good shooting and some nice passing skills in their first two games as Billikens.
For the second consecutive week, the Billikens struggled from the free throw line. After shooting eight of 20 last week against Arkansas Fort-Smith, SLU shot 12 of 20 from the charity stripe against St. Ambrose.
We also struggled to score from the two and three spots, which had been vacated by the steller (618) duo of Tommie Liddell III and Kevin Lisch and their combined 3,200+ career points. Sophomore Kyle Cassity and redshirt freshman Femi John were a combined two of 17 from the field.
Despite the tough shooting for both, I liked the fact that both players were not tentative. They aggressively attacked the basket and shot the 3-pointer when they were left open. Now, they have to just knock home a few of them to give them some confidence. They cannot get discouraged and get tentative when the shots don't fall.
The one real downer of Saturday's game was the ankle injury suffered by sophomore forward Brian Conklin. He hobbled off the court midway through the second half after a collision with a St. Ambrose player.
Hopefully, Brian's injury is not too serious. His injury would make an already thin frontcourt corps even thinner. As of now, the only healthy bodies up front are Reed and the freshmen John Smith and Corey Remekun. Meanwhile, SLU's prized 6'8" Australian recruit, Cody Ellis, remains at home in NCAA Clearinghouse limbo.
Well, next week is for real. We host Southeast Missouri State next Saturday night at 7 p.m.
I'll have a preivew on Friday.