Billikids outlast Green Bay; move to CBI semifinals

For the past month, I have been saying that the 2010 edition of the Billikens is the most resilient team that I've seen in my 19 years of broadcasting SLU basketball.

Once again, the mettle of these freshmen and sophomores was put to the
test on Monday night against a tough Wisconsin-Green Bay team and they
responded with a gut-check 68-62 double-overtime victory in the
quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational at the Chaifetz
Arena.
SLU (22-11) will face Princeton in the semifinals of the CBI on
Wednesday night at the Chaifetz Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
After leading 27-25 at halftime, the Phoenix started the second half
with a 10-0 run to really knock us on our heels. An emphatic slam dunk
by freshman Matt Anderson sent the Phoenix into orbit mentally and they
really took it to us for much of the second half.
The Billikens trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before
mounting one of their big rallies that we have become quite accustomed
to during the late part of the season.
We have faced great adversity all season, and it struck again when
freshman Justin Jordan broke his thumb while diving for a loose ball in
the second half, leaving an already short-handed roster even more
depleted. J.J. is the fourth guard we've lost this season to an injury,
joining Jeff Reid, Paul Eckerle and Femi John on the injured list.
Once again, the kids circled the wagons and fought back in the wake of
another tough situation. But, it wasn't easy.
Our outside shooting left us for several minutes of the second half, yet
we found a way to come back and win another dramatic game that seemed
almost hopeless against the quicker, more aggressive Green Bay players.
It took us the entire second half to come all the way back and tie the
game at 53-53 when Kwamain Mitchell stole an inbounds pass and flipped
it to Willie Reed with the tying basket with 24 seconds left in
regulation.
Green Bay had a chance to win the game in regulation, but our defense
stood tall and forced overtime for the fifth time this season. The two
teams managed only three points each in the first overtime, but the
Billikens outscored Green Bay 12-6 in the second overtime for the win.
With out perimeter shooting on the fritz, the Billikens found great
success on the inside with Reed and Cody Ellis doing the damage in the
lane. Reed tied a career high with 21 points to go along with his 10
rebounds. His two blocked shots made him SLU's career single-season
leader, passing former Billiken standout Kelvin Henderson. Willie also
made five of his eight free throws, much to the delight of the student
section, which chanted Willie's name in support to help him through his
free-throw problems. In the tournament, Willie has hit eight of 12 from
the charity stripe. Pretty good.
After continuing to struggle with his 3-point shooting, the 6'8" Ellis
moved inside and broke out of his shooting slump with 14 points and
eight rebounds. It was good to see Cody back in double figures in
scoring and even better to see how resourceful he became.
Kwamain finished with 14 points, four assists and two steals. He hit a
big pull-up 3-pointer in transition to cut Green Bay's 47-41 lead to
47-44. That really got the Billikens over the hump as they had trouble
getting the lead under six points throughout the second half.
Kyle Cassity scored five points and had six assists, but his greatest
contribution came on defense has he guarded Green Bay's top shooter Troy
Cotton. Cotton got hot early in the second half and had 17 points with
12 minutes left, but he did not score again for the rest of the game.
Kyle did a great job of challenging his shots and fighting over screens
to get to Cotton.
Christian Salecich had eight points, but six came in the final 21
seconds of the second overtime. He hit the biggest shot of the game, a
3-pointer from the left wing to give the Billikens a five-point lead. It
was the same spot where Christian hit the dagger 3-pointer to clinch
SLU's big road victory at Dayton in the regular season finale.
A lot of credit for tonight's victory goes to the 4,235 people who
showed up. They were very vocal throughout the second half when the
Bills were making their comeback. It was awesome. It sounded like there
were about 15,000 people in there.
As you can see, it really makes a difference. It helped the kids really
dig in and pull out their fifth victory in the past month after trailing
by more than 10 points in the second half.
The mental toughness displayed by these young men continues to amaze me.
Even when we were trailing by 11 points, I knew better not to give up on
these kids. I've seen them take on adversity head on and come out on top
too many times.
They did not want their season to end as did the Green Bay kids, who
played with great heart despite playing a lineup without a player taller
than 6'5" for much of the night because of foul trouble to their bigger
players.
So, the Billikens survive and advance to play another day. It will be
another challenge as we must take on the disciplined attack of the
Princeton offense. The Tigers finished second in the Ivy League to
Cornell, who is setting the NCAA Tournament on its ear by making it to
the Sweet 16.
The winner of Wednesday game will take on either Virginia Commonwealth
or Boston University in a best two of three series for the CBI
championship.
On a side note, it is great to see the Atlantic 10 Conference perform so
well in the postseason. To my knowledge, I think we are the only
conference to have teams still alive in three different tournaments.
Xavier is in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the third
consecutive year. Dayton and Rhode Island advanced to the quarterfinals
of the National Invitational Tournament. Rhode Island defeated Nevada at
home while Dayton won at Cincinnati.
Kudos to the A-10 on its postseason success.
AS for Wednesday night, I hope to see many more of you there at the
Chaifetz. Bring a friend and have a good time.
Remember. If we win, we will be playing for a championship.
See you on Wednesday. Go Bills!