Saint Louis 81, La Salle 74

1/26/2008 3:26 PM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Kevin Lisch scored 22 points to lead St. Louis past La Salle 81-74 on Saturday afternoon.

The Bilikens (12-8, 3-3 Atlantic 10) scored eight straight points to take the lead for good at the 6:54 mark. Luke Meyer assisted with 18 points and six rebounds for St. Louis.

Yves Mekonga Mbala led the Explorers (7-12, 2-4) with 18 points and four rebounds.

The game remained tied midway through the second half before St. Louis started to pull away. La Salle had taken a 60-58 edge thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Darryl Partin, but the Bilikens slowly took over control to take their biggest lead of the game, 72-64 at 4:02.

St. Louis didn't hit a free throw until less than two minutes were left on the clock, but hit six more when they counted to hold on for the victory.

La Salle jumped to a 5-0 lead at the start of the game, but the teams battled back and forth for most of the first half. The Explorers regained a 5-point lead at 5:23 with a 9-2 run, including seven points by Jerrell Williams, but the Bilikens ended the half with a 10-2 run, topped off by 3-pointers from Danny Brown and Lisch.