Brown scored a career-high 24 points, but missed a jumper in the final seconds as Dayton held on for a 63-62 victory over the Billikens in overtime in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Kevin Lisch (Mel Evans/AP)
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Junior guard Tommie Liddell added 21 points for Saint Louis (16-15), which finished its first season under coach Rick Majerus with its first three-game losing streak of the year.
The Billikens, who closed the season with four losses in their last five games, had previously lost games against St. Bonaventure and at Duquesne.
SLU trailed 41-30 with 11 minutes, 25 seconds remaining after Dayton’s London Warren scored on a layup. The Billikens were down by nine with 5:55 left after a layup by Dayton’s Charles Little.
From that point, Saint Louis was able to take advantage of Dayton miscues at the free throw line and turnovers as Brown and the Billikens got hot.
A 3-pointer from junior guard Kevin Lisch (11 points) with 57 seconds left tied the game at 55-55 and neither team was able to get another score in regulation.
Brown put Saint Louis ahead 62-61 with a three-point play with 51 seconds remaining in overtime, but Dayton took the lead for good on a jumper by Marcus Johnson with 34 seconds left.
The fate of the Billikens, who turned the ball over 18 times in the game, came down to one final shot in the last few seconds of the game. But Brown’s jump shot from the left wing was off the mark.