Saint Louis tops La Salle 78-71 in A-10 tourney

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) Mike McCall Jr. scored 16 points and Kwamain Mitchell had 15 to lead Saint Louis to a 78-71 win over La Salle on Friday night to advance to the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament semifinals.

Brian Conklin scored 14 points and Jordair Jett had 13 for the No. 2-seed Billikens (25-6), who have won nine of their last 10 games and are the highest remaining seed left in the tournament. Top-seeded Temple was eliminated by Massachusetts earlier.

Earl Pettis scored 18 points, Ramon Galloway had 14 and Tyreek Duren 13 for the Explorers (21-12).

Saint Louis raced to a 12-point first-half lead and appeared to have the game under control until La Salle got hot late. Pettis hit a pull-up jumper to pull La Salle within two and Jerrell Wright's dunk made it 57-56. That was as close as they would get.

McCall's 3-pointer made it 65-58, helping Saint Louis advance.

Updated March 9, 2012