St. Louis slips past Missouri St. with tip-in

~ The winning shot had to be reviewed for several minutes.

ST. LOUIS -- While referees viewed six replays of Ian Vouyoukas' last-second, game-winning tip-in, Saint Louis coach Brad Soderberg was composing his loser's speech.

The Billikens' radio team, seated next to the monitor, beat the officials to the punch in signaling the success, raising their arms in triumph after a 51-50 come-from-behind victory over Missouri State on Monday night. Replays showed the ball went in with one-tenth of a second to go.

"I was thinking, 'This would be a heartbreaker,"' Soderberg said. "I was really getting ready for that. Then I just fell on the press table. What a thrill."

Vouyoukas thought the basket was good before one referee emphatically waved it off. The longer it took to decide, though, the more confident he became.

"I couldn't believe it at first, then a bunch of people just jumped on me," Vouyoukas said. "After that, I lost it. I was just lucky it came to me."

Deven Mitchell scored 15 points for Missouri State, which squandered an 11-point second-half lead. The Bears (9-2) made only one basket in the final 9:28 and missed three shots and the front end of two bonus free throw situations in a scoreless final three minutes.

Missouri State coach Barry Hinson did not argue the decision.

"I'll tell you this: I trust the officials and I think they made the right call," Hinson said. "If it went, it went, and I'd hate for it to go in our favor and not be the right call."

Saint Louis (9-2) got three shots on its final possession after Nathan Bilyeu missed from inside for Missouri State with about 9 seconds left. Kevin Lisch missed from about 15 feet and Tommie Liddell threw up an air ball on the rebound from the baseline, but the 6-10 Vouyoukas was there to hoist it into the basket.

After his sixth replay viewing, referee Gerry Pollard said, simply, "It's good, boys!"

Lisch had 15 points and Vouyoukas had 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Saint Louis, which has won four in a row. The Billikens ended Missouri State's five-game winning streak and beat the Bears for only the second time in the last eight meetings, despite committing a season-worst 22 turnovers.

"There's so many reasons we should have lost," Soderberg said. "I'm just glad we won."

Bilyeu added 11 points and six rebounds for Missouri State, which had won five in a row and just missed cracking the Top 25 this week. Leading scorer Blake Ahearn, who averages 17 points, was scoreless and missed all four of his shots.

Missouri State was in control much of the second half and led 46-35 with about 9:30 to go before Saint Louis, energized by reserve Luke Meyer, rallied down the stretch. Meyer had two points, three rebounds and an assist in a 12-2 run that shaved the deficit to 48-47 with 3:39 to go.

Bilyeu made a pair of free throws with 3:18 left for Missouri State's final points. Meyer hit a layup with 43 seconds to go to set up Vouyoukas' game-winner.

Liddell, Saint Louis' second-leading scorer with a 14.3-point average, was responsible for nine of the turnovers to offset a six-point, nine-rebound effort. Vouyoukas had six turnovers.

Ahearn, hounded by Saint Louis point guard Dwayne Polk, was held out of double figures for only the second time all season. The senior, who is from St. Louis, was held scoreless for the first time since his sophomore season.

"They were living in his shorts all night," Hinson said. "I tried everything to do to get Blake to relax when he comes into this building."