ST. LOUIS -- Kevin Lisch, scoreless the first 141/2 minutes and bloodied early in the second half, had 15 points the rest of the way in Saint Louis' 53-50 victory over Boston College on Saturday.
Brian Conklin added 11 points and nine rebounds for Saint Louis (2-1), which got a strong effort from a lineup featuring seven freshmen. The Billikens had a 41-31 rebounding advantage.
Corey Raji had 22 points for Boston College (3-1), also young with 10 freshmen and sophomores. Senior Tyrese Rice, who averaged 22 points the first three games, was held to six on 2-for-13 shooting.
Reggie Jackson added 10 points for Boston College, which plays No. 11 Purdue in the NIT Tip-Off semifinals on Wednesday. The Eagles averaged 84 points in their first three games but shot 33 percent and were only 3-for-16 from 3-point range.
Lisch missed about two minutes after getting an elbow near the nose under the basket with 11:45 to go and Saint Louis leading 30-28.
Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis' other senior starter, also overcame a slow start. He finished with nine points and nine rebounds after missing his first nine shots.
Saint Louis scored five straight points to open the second half, capped by Lisch's fastbreak layup for his first points, of a game that was tied at the break.
Freshmen accounted for Saint Louis' last 12 points in the first half, forging a 23-23 tie on Conklin's follow shot with 23 seconds to go. The Billikens stayed in despite shaky halves from Liddell 0-for-7 with three free throws, and Lisch, 0-for-2 and scoreless while drawing two fouls.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
