Chicago State, a school with big-time college basketball aspirations, played host Saturday night to the St. Louis Billikens, a national power of yesteryear embarked on a renaissance movement.
The Cougars couldn`t cope with a dazzling display of first-half shooting by St. Louis and lost 84-67.
The final margin is somewhat misleading. After trailing by 22 points early in the second half, Chicago State battled back to pull within eight with 5 minutes 9 seconds left in the contest before the comeback collapsed.
In the first half, the Billikens made 65 percent of their 29 field goal attempts and fired in 9 of 11 from three-point range. Showing the way were 6- foot-6-inch senior Roland Gray with 14 points and 6-3 freshman Vincent Smith with 12. Each player missed only one shot from the floor.
Chicago State (10-13) took the court with a three-game winning streak, the last two conquests coming on the road. But coach Tommy Suitts was wary-with good reason, as it turned out. Suitts described the Billikens (18-7)
as ”an excellent team, well-coached with great athletes. They are definitely a postseason team, it`s just a matter of which tournament they`ll go to.”
At the same time, Suitts was encouraged by his pupils` progress. ”I think our team is continually getting better,” he said. ”We got back to playing defense the way we did earlier this season, and that enabled us to win under adverse circumstances on the road.
”The success we`ve had recently is really remarkable because (6-11 senior) Laurent Crawford was sick with the flu and had just one basket and four points in those last two games.”
Crawford and 5-11 guard Maurice Thornton collaborated to send the Cougars out front 5-1 and bring them back to a 10-10 tie after St. Louis quickly got its act together.
Then the Billikens went on a binge, outscoring the home team 16-2 on a run that began with 10 unanswered points. By halftime, Chicago State faced a 50-30 deficit.
In the second half, the Billikens` shooting touch turned cold and they began making ballhandling blunders in the face of full-court pressure. Crawford and 6-2 Gerald Collins led a Cougar rally that saw them narrow the gap to 67-59.
But St. Louis regrouped behind 6-8 junior Anthony Bonner and 6-3 junior Charles Newberry and the threat was squelched before it reached the serious stage.
”We did everything right in the first half,” said St. Louis coach Rich Grawer. ”It was maybe the best we played all year.
”In the second half they got to us physically. The keys late in the second half were (Jeff) Luechtefeld stabilizing us with his passing and awareness; Newberry giving us continuity at point guard and Bonner dominating the inside.”
Gray had 19 points to lead a parade of five Billikens in double figures. Crawford led Chicago State with 19 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.
