Robbie Avila hit a 3-pointer with three seconds to play, lifting No. 21 Saint Louis to a 79-76 come-from behind win over visiting George Washington on Tuesday.
Avila scored 22 points, hit 4 of 8 3-point attempts and stole George Washington’s last-second pass to secure the best start in program history for Saint Louis (20-1, 8-0 Atlantic 10).
Trey Green tallied a game-high 23 points and connected on 6 of 10 shots from beyond the arc for Saint Louis, which has won 14 straight games. Kellen Thames added 15 points.
Tyrone Marshall Jr. and Christian Jones led George Washington (13-8, 4-4) with 15 points apiece. Trey Autry contributed 13 points and Rafael Castro scored 12 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Revolutionaries, who have lost three of their past four games.
The Billikens took a 70-63 lead on a 15-0 run that featured consecutive threes from Green and Avila. It was the first Saint Louis lead since 2-0. George Washington though scored five straight points, all on free throws, to take a 72-71 lead with 3:40 remaining.
Garrett Johnson’s layup put Geroge Washington up 74-73 with 2:39 to play. Avila’s 3-pointer with 1:36 to play gave Saint Louis a 76-74 advantage.
The Revolutionaries hung tough as Castro’s emphatic follow-up, a two-handed dunk, tied the game at 76 all, before Avila’s last-second heroics.
George Washington jumped out to a 10-2 lead on Castro’s offensive rebound putback. Marshall posted back-to-back layups and the Revolutionaries had an early 14-5 advantage.
But Green nailed a three and Thames fought through traffic for a layup and Saint Louis trailed 14-10. A few minutes later, Avila’s high-arcing 3 swished in and tied the game at 21-21.
The George Washington lead swelled back up to 37-23 on an 11-0 run as Christian Jones turned a steal into an uncontested dunk. The Revolutionaries’ defense had the Billikens frustrated in the first half. Saint Louis shot 37% (13 of 35) while George Washington shot 51% (16 of 31).
The Billikens closed the first half on a 7-2 run that Quentin Jones capped with a banked-in trey to trail 43-33 at the break.
A Green trey initiated an 8-0 Saint Louis rally and the Billikens closed within 50-45 with 14:51 to play.
–Field Level Media
