University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Saint Louis
Memphis Edged Out By Saint Louis, 69-66
Jan 25, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2003
By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS - Marque Perry had 24 points, including six in the final 31 seconds, as Saint Louis snapped a four-game losing streak with a 69-66 victory over slumping Memphis on Saturday.
Drew Diener added 12 points and Chris Sloan had 11 points and seven rebounds for Saint Louis (7-9, 1-4), which has never begun the Conference-USA season with five straight losses. Memphis (11-5, 2-3) has lost three of its last four.
Perry was 11-for-12 at the line, including 4-for-4 in the final 15.8 seconds. That made up for the free throw misfortunes of teammate Kenny Brown, who was 0-for-8 and missed a pair with 1:10 left.
Jeremy Hunt had 18 points and Rodney Carney 14 for Memphis. The Tigers' leading scorer, Chris Massie, averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds, was held to four points and five rebounds.
Saint Louis won in the return of Brad Soderberg, who missed the previous two games with a virus that landed him in a hospital. Soderberg missed losses at home to Cincinnati and on the road to Houston, and this was the first game in a week for the Billikens.
The final minute was action-packed, with Saint Louis outscoring Memphis 7-6. Two free throws by Perry with eight-tenths of a second to go provided the final margin, but Anthony Rice was just off the back rim on a 3-point attempt from midcourt at the buzzer.
Sloan, who averages five points and 2.8 rebounds, had his best game in recent memory for the Billikens. He had totaled two points in the previous four games on 1-for-9 shooting, and only 10 points in the previous eight games.
Saint Louis took advantage of foul trouble to Memphis' big men, Chris Massey and Earl Barron, at the end of the first half. Perry had four points in an 8-2 closing run that produced a 33-29 lead.
The Billikens never trailed in the second half, although the game was tied at 45 and three times the lead was shaved to a point.
