Kingston, R.I. – Saint Louis University saw its 18-game winning streak come to a halt as Rhode Island defeated the No. 18 Billikens 81-76 in an Atlantic 10 Conference contest on Tuesday night in front of an energized crowd at the Ryan Center.
The Rams rode the hot shooting of guard Jonah Hinton and a tough defense that forced 18 turnovers to hand the Billikens their first loss in A-10 play. The Billikens are now 12-1 in the A-10 and 24-2 overall after suffering their first loss since November 28 against Stanford. SLU fell one game short of tying the school record of 19 consecutive victories, which was set by the 2012-13 team.
The 6’3” Hinton was sensational as he scored 29 points and made nine 3-pointers, which tied a school record. The Rams’ defense was also stingy as they scored 28 points off of the Billikens’ 18 turnovers and held them to 15 points below their season average.
The Billikens trailed throughout the game, but they had two chances to tie the score in the closing seconds, but two 3-point attempts missed the mark and the Rams held on for the victory by making its free throws down the stretch.
Senior center Robbie Avila scored 21 points to lead the Billikens while senior guard Dion Brown followed with 19 points on eight of 10 shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Amari McCottry scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Saint Louis will return to action on Friday night when it will host VCU in a big showdown for first place in the Atlantic 10. VCU will come into St. Louis on an 11-game winning streak and a 12-2 conference record, just a half-game behind the Billikens.
Tip-off for Friday night’s game will be at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN-2 and broadcast on KMOX-AM 1120.