ST. LOUIS – Dwayne Evans registered game highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Saint Louis turned away a late St. Ambrose rally to defeat the Bees 72-61 Saturday afternoon in an exhibition game at Chaifetz Arena.
Evans was 10-of-16 from the field. Five of his 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass, and he added a game-high three steals.
Brian Conklin contributed 12 points and five rebounds and tied for game-high honors with four assists. Cory Remekun gathered six rebounds in just 13 minutes, including four offensive caroms as SLU earned a 19-7 edge in that category.
St. Ambrose of Davenport, Iowa, ranked 13th in NAIA Division II, got 19 points and eight rebounds from Mike Kennedy, while Chris Donnelly tacked on 18 points and eight boards.
Donnelly’s driving reverse layup capped a 6-0 St. Ambrose run that sliced the Saint Louis lead to 57-54 at the 5:14 mark. Jordair Jett hit a jumper just inside the top of the key, but Donnelly answered with a short baseline turnaround to make it a 59-56 game.
However, St. Ambrose would draw no closer. Evans buried a jumper from the foul line, Kyle Cassity drained a 3-pointer and Mike McCall Jr. made a fast-break layup to give the Bills a 66-56 cushion with 1:39 left.
Saint Louis jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Evans’ three-point play and Kwamain Mitchell’s driving layup. The Billikens used scoring from seven different players, led by Evans’ nine points, to build a 21-11 cushion.
SLU was on top 25-15 when St. Ambrose put together an 8-0 spurt to make it a one-possession game. A pull-up jumper by Jake Barnett put the Billikens back on track, Remekun grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, and Conklin hit a short bank shot to give the Bills a 31-23 advantage. Saint Louis led 33-25 at the break.
Nicholas Frazier’s three-point play brought the Bees to within five at 37-32, but the Billikens scored the next seven points to seemingly take command. Evans began the run with a three-point play, Conklin sank two free throws and Evans put back an offensive rebound for a 44-32 Saint Louis advantage with 16:05 remaining.
Donnelly, Kennedy and Lorenzo Fiol combined to score all the points in a 14-6 outburst that narrowed the SLU lead to 50-46 with 11:24 left. Baskets by Mitchell and Conklin and a Cassity trey stretched the margin to nine, 57-48, before St. Ambrose made its final push.
Saint Louis opens the regular season Friday, Nov. 11, against Tennessee State. Tip time at Chaifetz Arena is 7:30 p.m.
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