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When St. Louis University’s 85-62 win over Chicago State ended on Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena, Billikens guard Kellen Thames was still around to see it. For Thames, that was a whole different kind of victory.

Thames finished with 13 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes, and that last number may be the most significant of all for the sophomore guard as it’s his most playing time since he started severely cramping during games — and just the second time he’s made it to the end of a game.

Starting with the Nov. 25 against Quinnipiac, Thames has missed the entire second half of a game once and had to come out after a few minutes of the second half in two others. On Sunday, there was a close call in the second half where it seemed like he might not be able to finish, but he got through that and returned to action.

For a change, he was all smiles after a game and not having IV fluids pumped into his arm.

“Yeah, we’re just still finding solutions to this day,� Thames said, “but I’m just doing everything I can. Listen to all the doctors, all the trainers. We’re still working for something, but I was able to get through it, and I’m just keeping going day by day with it and just keep finding solutions as much as I can.�

It was critical on Sunday because, besides Thames, SLU was down to six healthy players. Kobe Johnson was sick, and Larry Hughes II has a bruised tailbone, which along with an ongoing ankle injury for AJ Casey, left coach Josh Schertz with just freshmen Amari McCottry and Max Pikaar off the bench.

Fortunately for SLU, it was able to open up its lead enough in the second half that Schertz was able to bring in Kilian Brockhoff and two walk-ons in the closing minutes. Otherwise, Isaiah Swope and Gibson Jimerson would have played the full 40 minutes and Kalu Anya and Robbie Avila would have been around 35.

But SLU needs Thames for more than the minutes he provides. He’s an important part of the team, and the energy he brings even in limited playing time over the past five games has shown that.

“That’s a huge thing,� Schertz said of Thames finishing the game. “I thought Kellen played great in 23 minutes. You can see the impact he has on our team. He gets 13 points, four rebounds; it’s great to see him out there. The kid loves to play. He brings as much energy and juice to the game as you could possibly do, so without him, we’re missing one of our best players but we’re also missing a guy who really from the crowd standpoint, from his teammates’ standpoint, plays so hard and he’s got a positive energy that’s contagious.

“We miss him in a lot of ways when he’s not out there. So it was great to see him. We made some adjustments pregame to some things to try to help him and seems like it held up and now we’ll just hopefully keep building from there and see what we can do.�

“Just try to get as much fluids as I can,� said Thames, who also has added two shots of pickle juice a day to his diet. “It’s more of a situation where I’m just not getting to my levels. But hydration and things, we’re just trying to find things to help me in areas where I can’t really control right now. But we’re definitely finding solutions day by day.�

And solutions are important because postgame — and even mid-game — IV treatments have been a regular event for him to deal with the pain.

“It’s like a tightness, like extreme tightness of the body, just really hard,� he said. “I get them in a lot of areas where it’s really hard to stretch them or get them out. It really doesn’t dictate how much electrolytes or water I have. It’s more of just how much I’m losing of a certain level. I just get cramps in a lot of areas where it just kind of makes me immobile.�

Schertz has been careful to spread out Thames’ time. He came out of the game with 13:56 to go in the second half, amid concerns that he might not be able to return. But he was able to get back in the game.

“There was a moment where it was, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get him,’ and we got him out,� Schertz said, “and normally when that’s happened, he hasn’t been able to come back. He’s been out. ... But they came back and said he’s good to go back. That’s progress because so far, when he’s had to come out, that’s been the end of it. We haven’t seen him again.�

Thames’ situation is certainly not over, but SLU doesn’t play until next Sunday at Illinois State, so it will give the team more time to figure out how to deal with the cramps and maybe get a player or two back as well, which would make everyone’s life easier.

Avila had 19 points and seven rebounds in the win. Jimerson, honored before the game for breaking the school career scoring record on Thursday in San Francisco, had 18 points, 16 in the second half. Anya had 14 points (including his first 3-pointer of the season just ahead of the first-half buzzer) and nine rebounds, just missing his third double-double of the season, and Swope had 14 points, five rebounds and seven assists.

SLU (6-3) led Chicago State (0-11) by just a point early in the second half at 50-49 when Schertz had his team shift to a zone defense, which started the Billikens on a pair of runs, 11-0 and 19-3. In about seven minutes, SLU’s lead went from one point to 18 as Jimerson hit three 3-pointers.

“I thought it stymied them,� Schertz said. “Got them out of rhythm.�

And then SLU started making its shots. After making just 4 of 16 3-pointers in the first half, it made 8 of 13 in the second half.