No. 18 Saint Louis beats VCU after chaotic, ejection-filled ending

Kellen Thames scored 16 points and made five steals as No. 18 Saint Louis rallied past visiting VCU 88-75 on Friday night in a testy game that featured a fight and extensive ejections in the closing seconds when the result was in hand.

The Billikens (25-1, 13-1 Atlantic 10) trailed by 14 in the first half before outscoring the Rams (21-7, 12-3) by a 55-33 margin in the second half, snapping VCU's 10-game winning streak.

Saint Louis' Quentin Jones was dribbling out the final seconds of the clock when VCU's Nyk Lewis stole the ball. The Billikens' Robbie Avila knocked Lewis out of bounds. Players and coaches from both teams then came onto the floor, continuing to argue while officials reviewed the play to determine who would be ejected.

At the end of that review, Jones and VCU's Barry Evans were ejected with flagrant-2 fouls. The Rams were left with just four players on the court after the entire bench was ejected. The Billikens were left with only six players after all but two of their bench players were ejected.

Amari McCottry, Ishan Sharma and Robbie Avila each scored 13 points and Jones added 11 for the Billikens, who rebounded from their first conference loss on Tuesday at Rhode Island.

Lazar Djokovic scored 19 points and Brandon Jennings chipped in 18 for the Rams.

The Rams made 8 of 15 from 3-point range during the first 20 minutes and turned nine offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points.

But St. Louis flipped the script in the second half, shooting 7 of 12 from 3-point range while VCU missed 13 of 14 from beyond the arc. The Billikens shot 58.3% in the second half from the field and 3-point range.

VCU raced to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes as Lewis, Jadrian Tracey and Barry Evans all hit 3-point shots.

After the Billikens cut the deficit to 15-8, Tyrell Ward hit a 3-pointer to propel the Rams to a 22-8 lead with a 7-0 run.

Saint Louis missed its first seven shots from 3-point range before Trey Green hit one to fuel a 7-2 Billikens surge.

Michael Belle and Djokovic hit 3-pointers as the Rams pushed their lead to 37-24. The Billikens scored seven straight points to move within six, but VCU moved out to a 42-33 halftime lead.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Jones and Green cut VCU's lead to 45-41 with 17:28 left. The Rams increased their margin to 53-44 with 14:09 left, but Sharma steadied the Billikens with a 3-point jumper.

Thames scored seven unanswered points by attacking the rim to start a 21-2 spurt that put Saint Louis up 70-59 with 7:23 left.

The Rams never got closer than seven the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media