ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The men's basketball team opened their season in an exhibition game at Saint Louis on Friday.  The Panthers fell to the NCAA Division I Billikens 124-85.

The Panthers scored the first point of the game before Saint Louis took the lead and held it for the remainder of the game.

Greenville trailed 52-40 at halftime, with Saint Louis pushing their lead to 15 points at one point in the first half.  SLU took control more emphatically in the second half, outscoring Greenville 72-45 and leading by as many as 44.

The Panthers forced 27 SLU turnovers and collected 20 steals.

Greenville's Elmo Smith was the Panther leading scorer with 12 points.  Kieshaun Young-Jones tallied 11 points, and Shane Smith added 10 points for Greenville.

Johari Dix had four steals for the Panthers, and Jaden Greenwood posted three steals.

Greenville's top rebounder was Elmo Smith with six.

Dix and Brian Ehresman passed out three assists.

The Panthers open their regular season at Knox on Tuesday, Nov. 15.