Yuri Collins scored 21 points, including a crucial three-point play in the closing seconds, as Saint Louis rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Providence 76-73 on Sunday in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off consolation game in Uncasville, Conn.
Collins also handed out a game-high seven assists to put him over the 600 mark for his career with 603.
Francis Okoro hit two free throws with four seconds after rebounding a miss by Providence’s Jared Bynum for the final margin. Byum’s half-court heave then rimmed out at the buzzer..
Javonte Perkins scored 14 points and Okoro was among a trio of Billikens along with Javon Pickett and Gibson Jimerson with 10 points for the Billikens (4-1).
Bryce Hopkins led the Friars (3-2) with 21 points while Bynum had 15 points, Ed Croswell tallied 11 and Devin Carter scored 10. Croswell also had 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
The Friars scored five quick points to start the second half to open up a double-digit lead at 41-30, but the Billikens got their deficit down to 51-45 over the next seven minutes.
They fell back by double digits again and trailed 58-47 before going on an 13-2 spurt that tied the score at 60.
The game was tied five more times after that before Collins driving layup and free throw put the Billikens up 74-73 with 26.8 seconds left.
No more than four points separated the two teams and the game was tied five times in the first half until the Friars closed with an 8-2 spurt to take a 36-30 halftime lead.
The Friars led despite going only 5 of 20 from the field over the last 12 minutes to finish the half 10 of 32 (31.3 percent). The Billikens were 12 of 27 (44.4 percent) in the first half after hitting only one of their last five shot attempts.
–Field Level Media
