There was a moment in the first half on Friday when it looked like Saint Louis might be heading home early. The top-seeded Billikens found themselves down 21 points against ninth-seeded George Washington, struggling on both ends of the floor at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. By the time it was over, they had pulled off one of the more dramatic comebacks of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, winning 88-81 to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
The victory improved Saint Louis to 27-4 on the season and kept its NCAA Tournament resume intact. The Revolutionaries, who entered at 18-15 after dispatching Fordham in the first round, played well enough to win for most of the afternoon. They just could not hold off what came at them in the second half.
How the first half unfolded
George Washington controlled the opening 20 minutes from start to finish. The Revolutionaries pushed the pace, hit shots from the perimeter and gave Saint Louis fits defensively, building a 14-point lead before halftime. The Billikens, who had lost by 29 to George Mason in their regular-season finale, were not shooting the ball well and allowing too many open looks on the defensive end. They went into the locker room trailing 48-34, facing a mountain they had not yet climbed all season.
The second-half turnaround
Whatever was said at halftime produced immediate results. Saint Louis came out of the break with urgency, trimming the deficit to nine within the first two minutes of the second half. A run of 11 points against just two for George Washington made it a five-point game less than four minutes in. The momentum had shifted entirely.
The Revolutionaries steadied themselves and pushed the lead back out to 11, but Saint Louis kept responding. With just under 14 minutes remaining, the Billikens had pulled within four. Then Avila took over. He connected on three consecutive three-pointers in a short stretch, and Kellen Thames added a fast-break dunk that gave Saint Louis a 70-67 lead, its first of the game.
From that point the lead changed hands repeatedly. Saint Louis built an advantage of nine with roughly four minutes remaining, only for George Washington to climb all the way back. With under two minutes to play the score was tied at 78. The Revolutionaries even held the lead at 79-78 with 1:47 on the clock.
Saint Louis reclaimed the advantage at the 1:24 mark and did not relinquish it. The Billikens closed out the final possession and won by seven, a margin that felt larger than the game ever actually was.
Who delivered for Saint Louis
Avila finished with 22 points to lead the Billikens, earning his moments when the team needed them most. Trey Green added 19 and Thames contributed 14, giving Saint Louis three players in double figures for the second time in as many meetings with George Washington this season. The two teams had also played a tight regular-season game in January, with Saint Louis winning 79-76 on a last-second three-pointer from Avila.
The win came on a day that carried additional energy for the program. News of head coach Josh Schertz’s contract extension broke while the game was already in progress, a detail that was not lost on those watching from the sideline.
What comes next
Saint Louis will face the winner of fourth-seeded Dayton and thirteenth-seeded St. Bonaventure in the semifinal round on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, also at PPG Paints Arena. The Billikens are one win away from tying the program record for victories in a single season, set at 28 during the 2012-13 campaign.
George Washington’s season ends at 18-15, a result that stings given how well the Revolutionaries played for the better part of 30 minutes on Friday afternoon.
