The Saint Louis Billikens came into the University of Dayton Arena on Thursday night and played the role of the Grinch, leaving the Arena with their first road win of the year. The 83-74 victory meant the Flyers lost their first home contest of the year after four consecutive victories over teams with less talent that St. Louis.
Saint Louis opened the scoring on their first possession, and led by Justin Love’s eight points, SLU opened up an early 14-4 lead. From that point the Flyer defense tightened up and forced several turnovers as Tony Stanley hit a couple of threes, Mark Ashman scored inside, and soon enough the 10 point lead was down to two at 19-17. The Flyers had several opportunities to tie or take the lead, but instead gave the fans a taste of things to come by committing turnovers and taking quick shots on the several possessions.

A typical play during that part of the game was a telegraphed, lazy pass from David Morris across the top of the key that was stolen and turned into a thunderous Justin Love dunk. From that point Saint Louis pushed the lead to 11 before the Flyers started a run of their own featuring a Brooks Hall trey and three Hall free throws after getting fouled on a trey. Following a steal and a lay-in by Nate Green, the Flyers took their first lead of the game at 35-34 with 23 seconds remaining in the half. A trey by Justin Love just before the horn restored the Billiken lead at 37-35 and gave Saint Louis the momentum heading into the lockers. Justin Love led Saint Louis in scoring at the half with 16 points, while Mark Ashman had nine for the Flyers.

The Flyers scored the first four points of the second half to take their last lead at 39-37. From there the Billikens converted several turnovers into easy scores and opened up a working margin. Each time the Flyers cut the lead back to four points or less, Saint Louis would get a turnover or two for lay-ins at the other end, extending their lead back to eight points or more. Dayton was within two at 57-55, and had several chances to cut into a 59-55 Saint Louis lead but could not convert. A couple of steals and three point shots from Dave Fergerson and Latimer opened up a 67-55 Billiken lead with five minutes remaining. Pressure defense forced several Saint Louis turnovers in the last five minutes, and the Flyers had several opportunities to cut the lead down to a one-possession game but couldn’t execute well enough offensively. Saint Louis hit eight straight free throws in the last 1:30 to salt the game away.

For the game the Billikens — a team that had shot 32% from the three point line during the year — knocked down 57% of their attempts against the Flyers. The Billikens also converted 18 of 19 free throws in the second half and 21of 23 for the game. Justin Love led Saint Louis in scoring with 27 points. Brooks Hall had 18 points and 7 rebounds for the Flyers while Mark Ashman led in scoring with 19. Tony Stanley hit two early threes, but was held to 10 points on 4 of 14 shooting.

What ruined the Flyers’ chances more than the hot shooting of the Billikens was the inability to execute offensively. Saint Louis into the body of David Morris and Edwin Young, forcing them to the sideline rather than to the paint. And the Dayton point guards frequently picked up their dribble too early under pressure. Each finished the game with five turnovers, as did Nate Green. For the game the Flyers committed 18 turnovers, with 12 coming in the second half.

The Billikens overplayed the passing lanes, but instead of executing solid screens and back-cuts, the Flyers all too frequently stood around and watched. And they failed to take advantage of Mark Ashman’s early offense and began settling for perimeter jumpers. As the game wore on, Saint Louis began bumping Ashman off the blocks each time the ball came in low. Rather than taking the bump and going strong to the glass, Mark settled for turnaround, fall away jumpers.

The Flyers will take a few days off for Christmas, and return to the hardwood Wednesday night against Miami (OH). Miami employs a similar tenacious defense so the Flyers better be prepared to get the ball in the middle of the court, set solid diagonal screens to open up the wings, and take the bump when catching the ball down low. Let’s hope the Flyers respond well to their latest setback and close the decade with their first win over the Red Hawks in ten years.