ST. LOUIS – Santa Clara senior guard Kevin Foster scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Broncos to a 74-62 victory over Saint Louis Wednesday at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens (1-1) continue play in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic Monday, Nov. 19, when they take on Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
“Santa Clara is a very good team, and they came in here and pretty much dominated the play tonight,” SLU interim head coach Jim Crews said. “They had good player movement and good ball movement. They stayed with their offense, which is something we didn’t do tonight and is something I need to do a better job of getting through to our guys. We knew they were going to be good with (Marc) Trasolini and (Kevin) Foster returning this year after being out last season. But at the end, there are two types of basketball – good and bad – and we didn’t play good basketball.”
Sophomore Grandy Glaze, making his second start of the season for the injured Cory Remekun, scored on a play right off the tip. Later, a trey by junior forward Rob Loe made it 5-3, but that is the last lead the Billikens would hold. Buckets by Glaze, junior guard Jordair Jett and junior guard Mike McCall Jr. tied the score, but SLU couldn’t manage a stop as Santa Clara (2-0) pulled away to lead by 12, 26-14, at the 8:39 mark.
Four straight points by Evans pulled the Billikens within seven at 28-21 with 6:23 to go, but Santa Clara’s Marc Trasolini hit a 3-pointer to give the Broncos a double-digit lead, one it would not relinquish the rest of the way. The Broncos took a 44-31 advantage into halftime.
SLU was down by as many as 20 in the second half, but kept plugging away at its deficit. Loe hit a triple and McCall layed one in to make it a 14-point game. Later, two Loe free throws made it 72-60 with 2:28 to play, but the Billikens were unable to put a rally together and suffered the 12-point defeat.
“They are a good team,” SLU junior forward Dwayne Evans said. “I’m not surprised they came out the way they did, but I’m disappointed on how I played personally and how we competed on the court tonight.”
“Tonight was a reality check,” SLU senior forward Cody Ellis said. “The same thing happened to us last year at Loyola (Marymount). Hopefully we learn from it and push forward. Once tomorrow hits, we can’t think about it.”
The Billikens were led by Loe’s 13 points, which included three treys. Ellis scored 11, while Evans scored nine points and added eight boards.
Foster’s 30 points came of 10-of-18 shooting from the field. He also dished out five assists and registered seven steals.
Santa Clara shot 58.1 percent from the field, compared to just 35.3 percent for the Bills.
Kansas and Washington State plays the other game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic Monday. The championship game of the tournament is scheduled for approximately 8:35 p.m. Tuesday, while the consolation game is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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