Saint Louis 74, Eastern Illinois 69 – BOX SCORE ATTACHED

Thursday, November 17, 2016 | 7 p.m.

Chaifetz Arena | St. Louis, Missouri

Saint Louis rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to post a 74-69 victory against Eastern Illinois Thursday night at Chaifetz Arena.

It was the second win in a row for the Billikens, who move to 2-1 overall. Eastern Illinois falls to 1-2.

Senior forward Reggie Agbeko and junior guard Davell Roby led the way for Saint Louis with 18 points apiece. Freshman forward Elliott Welmer scored 15 points, while sophomore guard Jermaine Bishop added 14 points and posted a career-high eight assists.

The Billikens opened the second half on a 15-0 run to gain command, and they held on down the stretch to post the win.

— The Billikens held Eastern Illinois to 23.5 percent shooting in the second half after the Panthers hit 52.9 percent in the first.

— It was a game of runs in the first half. EIU went on an 8-0 spurt to go up 19-13 with 13:07 left, but SLU responded with an 11-0 run to gain a five-point lead with 8:25 to go in the first session.

— The Billikens led by two with less than four minutes left in the first half, but an 11-0 rally for EIU put the Panthers ahead late. A last-second tip-in gave EIU a 44-33 halftime lead.

— The beginning of the second half was all Billikens. SLU started the second session on a 15-0 run and quickly erased its halftime deficit.

— SLU remained in the lead until the 8:39 mark when EIU drilled a trey to tie the score at 57-57. EIU scored the next bucket to briefly give the Panthers a two-point lead, but Roby responded with a triple to put SLU back on top, and Mike Crawford converted a fast-break dunk as the Billikens led 62-59 with five minutes remaining.

— The Billikens wouldn’t relinquish the lead the rest of the way, but EIU kept it close. SLU was down one with four minutes left, but Agbeko answered with a jumper. After EIU scored again with less than three minutes left to make it a two-point game, Agbeko again answered to put SLU on top 66-62 with 2:36 remaining.

— EIU’s Montell Goodwin hit a trey with 30 seconds left to make it a two-point game. After a steal, EIU had the chance to go on top but Casey Teson’s 3-point attempt with 16 seconds left was short.

— The Billikens hit five of six free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.

— Agbeko was 9-of-12 from the field en route to his 18 points. He also gathered seven rebounds before fouling out with 2:18 remaining in the contest.

— Roby was 4-of-5 from long range and 6-of-11 from the field for his 18 points. He finished with five rebounds and four assists.

— Bishop posted a career high in assists (eight) for the second straight game.

— Welmer hit a pair of treys and was 5-of-6 from the field for his 15 points. He was also a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.

— Crawford had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

— Cornell Johnston led EIU with 18 points and seven assists, while Muusa Dama posted a career-high 15 rebounds.

— The Billikens face BYU Monday night in Las Vegas in the Men Who Speak Up Main Event, which takes place at MGM Garden Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN3.