WASHINGTON (AP) — Francis Okoro contributed a double-double effort of 17 points and 13 boards while Gibson Jimerson racked up a game-best 19 points as Saint Louis rolled past La Salle 71-51 in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Thursday at Capital One Arena.
Fred Thatch Jr. added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Yuri Collins scored 13 points for Saint Louis (22-10). The Billikens head into the Quarterfinals for a fourth-consecutive championship and will face fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
Saint Louis and La Salle matched each other early on with small runs, resulting in multiple ties throughout the opening minutes. However, by the 9:01 mark in the first half, the Billikens managed to secure a lead they would never give up, surging into the midway break up by an 18-point margin.
"I thought the game kind of started out kind of the way I thought it would," Saint Louis head coach Travis Ford said. "I thought both of us would be back and forth a little bit and very low scoring. And then I we hit a spurt and just being able to go up 18 was crucial. And then we came out second half and started the way we wanted to start it. So very good performance, and very good defense. Extremely good defense. When you hold an 8 10 opponent to 16 points in a half in conference play, I think that says enough."
The Explorers struggled to find any offensive rhythm, finishing the game shooting 31.5 percent (17-of-54) overall and 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from beyond the arc.
Jhamir Brickus and Khalil Brantley led the way with 11 points for La Salle (11-19) while Jack Clark pulled down nine boards. Christian Ray tacked on five points with six rebounds.
"I think when shots don't fall, you have to emphasize getting second chance points," Ray said. "Saint Louis, credit to them, they tagged us every single time a shot went up. It was hard for us to get the second chance points that we usually get. So when shots aren't falling, that's when you have to get to the free throw line and you have to get the second chance points. We really weren't able to do either today."