Robbie Avila excels in closer mode to dig Billikens out of late hole for win at Richmond

SLU gets 7 straight defensive stops to feed comeback victory

A sloppy, no-look pass that resulted in a turnover had Josh Schertz furious at Robbie Avila late in Saint Louis University’s game Saturday at Richmond.

He was ready to unleash on his center during a timeout, but Avila disarmed his coach by pointing to his head to acknowledge he recognized the lazy mistake and need to be smarter. The Billikens trailed by three points after being down by seven inside of five minutes, and they were wasting opportunities.

Avila followed with two straight layups to regain the lead and hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to seal a 63-59 win that was every bit as ugly as the final statistics showed.