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Robbie Avila returned to action for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ University — in his first game that counted at Chaifetz Arena — and it was everything that coach Josh Schertz had promised.

There was rust.

Avila struggled before finding his game a bit in the second and finished with 14 points, though on 4-of-12 shooting. It was Isaiah Swope who took over as SLU beat Quinnipiac 81-67 on Monday night. Swope scored 30 points, matching his career high, set last year at Indiana State, as he played the entire game. Kalu Anya had a career-high 18 rebounds, surpassing the 17 he had when he played for Brown.

Gibson Jimerson moved into second on the all-time SLU scoring list, passing Erwin Claggett early in the second half. He finished with 16 points, giving him 1,916 points, second only to Anthony Bonner’s 1,972 in school history.

SLU (3-2) played most of the second half without guard Kellen Thames, who left the court about three minutes in and didn’t return with what the school labeled a medical condition.

The season may be young, but injuries are getting old for SLU, which was missing AJ Casey for the second game with an ankle injury and will be without Josiah Dotzler for the rest of the season after he tore ligaments in his knee.

SLU broke the game open midway through the second half with a 13-2 run in which it hit six straight field goals. It started with a drive to the basket by Jimerson, a lay-in by Swope, a lay-in by Avila, a goaltended lay-in by Anya, a turnaround 8-footer in the key by Swope and then a 3-pointer by Swope that led to a Quinnipiac timeout and a 63-51 lead. Anya added another lay-in to give SLU seven consecutive successful field goals before a missed shot from Swope in the key ended it.

Quinnipiac got as close as six points before Avila hit a 3 late in the shot clock with 3:56 to go to push the lead back to nine. Quinnipiac got back to six with 3 minutes to go, and this time, it was Swope who hit a late 3 to give SLU the breathing room it needed.

Avila, who had been out since spraining his ankle in the season opener, got off to a very slow start, missing his first five shots from the field before making a layup with 6:36 to go in the first. That was his only basket of the first half, as he went 1 for 8 from the field, 0 for 4 on 3-pointers. He played 13:44 in the first half, as minutes didn’t seem to be an issue. SLU was outscored by five points in the first half when Avila was on the court.

SLU led by one at the half, though it trailed almost all of the half, by as many as seven. Neither team shot very well — SLU was at 34%, Quinnipiac 38.9% — and it was Swope who kept them afloat, hitting three 3-pointers, including the one in the dying seconds of the first half to put SLU ahead.

SLU played most of the first half without Larry Hughes, who left the court holding his stomach after committing foul under the basket and hitting the ground hard. Anya had nine rebounds in the first half.

314 Classic

This game, as you may not have noticed, is part of the 314 Classic, a multi-team event featuring SLU, Quinnipiac and Massachusetts Lowell, which will be in town on Wednesday. Quinnipiac and UMass Lowell played Saturday at Lowell (which won 80-70), so this qualifies as a multi-team event, giving SLU an extra game on its schedule.

Lineup changes

With Avila back in the starting lineup, Kobe Johnson came out, making it the first game that the senior transfer from West Virginia has been available for that he didn’t start. The other four starters, Jimerson, Thames, Anya and Swope, stayed the same.