ESPN Men's Basketball

RICHMOND, Va. -- Dwayne Evans scored 11 points and Saint Louis built an 18-point second-half lead against cold-shooting Richmond and then held on to beat the Spiders 56-46 Saturday night, the Billiken's sixth straight win.

Jordair Jett, Kwamain Mitchell and Cody Ellis added nine points each for the Billikens (18-5, 7-2 Atlantic 10 Conference), who were the fourth consecutive conference leader or co-leader to visit the Robins Center, and the first to win. The Spiders had beaten Charlotte, Virginia Commonwealth and Xavier in succession.

Cedrick Lindsay led Richmond (14-10, 4-5) with 20 points, but the Spiders shot 23.3 percent (10 of 43).

Richmond was shooting just 17.1 percent (6 of 35) and had just one field goal in the first 13 1/2 minutes of the second half as the opened their biggest lead at 44-26.

The Spiders got a 3-pointer from Darien Brothers that sparked a 14-1 burst, pulling them within 45-40 with 3 minutes to play.

Saint Louis held on by making 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch.

The Billikens arrived leading the A-10 in scoring defense, allowing just 58.3 points per game. They used their deliberate style to slow the game down on offense before scoring inside, and stiff, in-your-face defense to keep the game at their pace. Saint Louis outscored Richmond 32-10 in the paint on the night.

The Billikens also used a variety of defenders to harass Brothers all night, limiting him to five shots and seven points, nine below his average. Richmond also finished just 3 for 15 from 3-point territory.

The loss was just the second in 14 home games for the Spiders.

Saint Louis dictated the pace throughout the first half. Richmond didn't help its cause by missing several times from in close, and finished the half shooting 20.8 percent (5 of 24).

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