Earl Austin Jr: Bills defeated St. Joseph's for Philly Sweep

Bills defeated St. Joseph's for Philly Sweep
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Earl  Austin on 10/02/2010 15:32:00
 
The game was not always pretty as the Bills trailed by as many as 12 points in
the first half. They managed to cut the lead to 32-26 by halftime.
In the second half, SLU managed to shut down the Hawks' transition game and take
control with its halfcourt defense, which limited St. Joes's to
29 percent shooting. Meanwhile, the Billikens found the range on offense with 50
percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Freshman Cody Ellis led the Billikens with 13 points, including 10 in the second
half. Fellow Australian Christian Salecich finished with 11 points. Christian
scored nine points in the first half and helped keep us in the game when the
offense was really struggling.
It was good to see both the Aussies come up with big performances at the same
time. My broadcast partner Bob Ramsey now calls them the "Outback Boys."
Christian's offense was very important because the Hawks did a nice job of
taking away Kwamain Mitchell and Willie Reed with double teams for much of the
game. He hit four of seven shots from the field. Justin Jordan came off the
bench to hit two timely 3-pointers to give us a combined 17 points from those
two players (Christian and Justin).
That's the key to a winning formula. Having different players step up and make
plays when they are presented to them.
Willie finished with seven points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
Willie also drew three charging fouls in the second half against three
diffferent Hawks' players.
Kyle Cassity added seven points and four assists while Brian Conklin finished
with three points.
The victory now puts us at 15-8 overall and 6-3 in Atlantic 10 play.
With six of our first nine conference games on the road, that is a remarkable
feat for such a young team. We have three road wins in league play, which is no
small feat. We have put ourselves in a good position heading down the stretch
with five of our last seven league games at home.
However, most of those home games will come against the big dogs of the league
as Dayton, Xavier, Rhode Island and Temple will come to the house in the next
month. All of those teams are in contention for the league title and a berth in
the NCAA Tournament, so the games at SLU will mean a lot to them. But, those
games will mean a lot to us as well because we now have a legitimate chance to
experience some postseason play this year.
It all starts on Saturday when Dayton comes to town, which should be quite a
tough game. The Flyers are hosting first-place Charlotte on Wednesday night.
With the Billikids in this position, it is my hope that we can sell out these
games in the Chaifetz Arena for the rest of the season. Duquesne is also on the
home slate, so we can't sleep on the Dukes. This season is starting to get
exciting, so let's pack the place and really get this thing going. We are one of
the surprise teams of the season in the A-10, so let's keep surprising everyone.
Our next objective is to find a way to get out of Philadelphia. The city has
been hit with a second big snowstorm and most of the flights out of here have
been cancelled for the next few days. The team is also stuck in Philly as well.
We are all scrambling to find any way we can to get back home. The team has been
here in Philly since last Thursday, so they have been away from home for an
entire week.
So, when we get back, we will be taking on the Dayton Flyers on Saturday at 3
p.m. Bring your Blue and your voices. We will need them. If you can't make it,
you can hear us on ESPN-101 with Rammer and I on the call.
Good night from Philly. Great win guys. Go Bills!