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01-24-2010, 05:19 PM
Crawford, second-half effort help Xavier batter Rams, 72-61
by Mike Damone
When your set offense fails to execute, it’s sometimes best to let pure talent take over. Rhode Island’s sticky, man-to-man fullcourt defense forced the Musketeers to bumble and brick their way to a sluggish first half before Jordan Crawford (21 pts, 12 reb, 6 ast) keyed a 10-0 run, effectively swinging the game in Xavier’s favor for good en route to a big 72-61 win over the Rams Saturday night at the Cintas Center.
The Musketeers (13-6, 5-1) trailed Rhode Island (15-3, 3-2), 35-28, with 17:57 to go in the second half, when Crawford put together a one-man show to carry Xavier over the hump and on its way.
After Marquis Jones (8 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) hit a pair of freebies to give the Rams the 7-point lead, Crawford immediately took the inbounds pass, sliced through URI’s press and finger rolled it home to get the run started.
After the Rams missed on their next possession, Crawford pulled down the board, drove through the defense again, and found Jason Love (10 pts, 8 reb) for the easy layup to cut Xavier’s deficit to three, 35-32. When URI misfired again, Crawford grabbed the board, then freed himself for a long three from the top of the key to knot the game at 35.
URI missed again on its next possession, and it was Crawford there again for the rebound. Terrell Holloway (12 pts, 4 ast) pushed the ball up the floor and found Crawford in the corner for an open three to give Xavier its first lead of the night, 38-35.
One minute, 14 seconds – Crawford eight points, three rebounds, one assist. Rhode Island never took led again, and Crawford made sure of that. When Rhode Island later trimmed Xavier’s deficit to one, 42-41, with under 15 minutes to play, Crawford found Love again for a bucket inside to put Xavier back up three.
When URI tied the game at 43, Crawford found Brad Redford (3 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast) in the corner for a triple to put Xavier back up for good with 12:05 to play. Crawford twice helped extend Xavier’s lead to six – once with another three and again finding Andrew Taylor (4 pts, 3 reb) on a fastbreak layup with 9:16 to play.
Holloway increased Xavier’s lead to nine with a pair of free throws, 59-50, and a beautiful no-look pass from Crawford to Jamel McLean (16 pts, 8 reb) for a jam brought the house to its feet and Xavier to an 11-point advantage.
Saddled by foul trouble for much of the game, Love shook free in Xavier’s second-half resurgence. After the Rams cut Xavier’s lead back down to seven, 63-56, Love dunked home a Holloway feed, then laid home a Crawford miss to give Xavier back the 11-point advantage.
And with under two minutes to go, Holloway gave Xavier its largest lead of the night with three the hard way when he drove for a lay-up while drawing the foul. After Jones answered with a pair of free throws, Mark Lyons (2 points) capped the evening’s scoring with lay-up off a fastbreak assist from Crawford.
The Musketeers stumbled through the first half to a season-low 26 points. Though Xavier shot a respectable 40 percent from the field, they committed 12 turnovers in the first half alone. They also went without a three-point field goal in the opening half for the first time all season.
Rhode Island scored the game’s first five points, and never allowed Xavier to take the lead in the first half. Their pressure defense frustrated Xavier’s guards, preventing the Musketeers from generating any offensive flow. The Rams never led during the half by more than three until Delroy James (10 pts, 3 reb) stole a pass from Lyons and took it in for a jam to put URI up, 11-7, with just under 13 minutes left in the first half.
A short jumper by McLean and a tip-in from Crawford off his own miss knotted the game. After Lamonte Ulmer (12 pts, 2 reb) gave the lead back to Rhode Island off a fastbreak lay-up, Taylor tied it again with under 11 minutes to go, but it would be the final time the Musketeers would be even with the Rams until Crawford’s outburst in the second half.
A lay-up by Keith Cothran (12 pts, 4 reb, 4 stl) put the Rams up three, and a pair of free throws from Jones gave the Rams a five-point advantage, 20-15, with under six minutes until the intermission. After Xavier modestly trimmed URI’s lead, Ulmer stretched his team’s advantage back out to five off an alley-oop pass from Jones at the 1:36 mark.
With Xavier still trailing by five and trying to set up for a final shot before halftime, Lyons’ driving lay-up was blocked by a Ram but cleaned up with a thundering flush from McLean just before the horn.
Xavier wasn’t any less lethargic coming out of the break, as URI scored the half’s first four points to take a 7-point lead, 33-26, off a jumper from Ulmer. Xavier still trailed by seven, 35-28, when Crawford keyed Xavier on the game-changing run.
In the midst of Xavier’s woeful first half, Crawford was the lone bright spot, scoring 10 of Xavier’s 26 points. The Musketeers were also an abysmal 50 percent from the free-throw line in the first half, and still only finished with a 55 percent clip.
Fortunately for Xavier, Rhode Island wasn’t much better, also recording a season-low 29 points in the first half and finishing with a season-low offensive output of 61 points.
The Musketeers were noticeably better on the defensive end in the second-half, as well as on offense where they shot 58 percent in the final 20 minutes. Rhode Island shot just 2-for-15 from long range for the game.
Xavier dominated the glass, 39-29, led by a career-high 12 rebounds from Crawford. Crawford notched his first career double-double, followed by 16 from McLean, 12 from Holloway and a productive 10 from Love.
Ulmer and Cothran tied for the team-high of 12 points, with James adding 10 in the losing effort.
The Musketeers will remain in the friendly confines to take on the Duquesne Dukes on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Dukes (10-9, 1-4) are coming off a 70-69 win over St. Bonaventure. The Dukes handed the Musketeers their first conference loss last season, winning 72-68 at the Palumbo Center.
by Mike Damone
When your set offense fails to execute, it’s sometimes best to let pure talent take over. Rhode Island’s sticky, man-to-man fullcourt defense forced the Musketeers to bumble and brick their way to a sluggish first half before Jordan Crawford (21 pts, 12 reb, 6 ast) keyed a 10-0 run, effectively swinging the game in Xavier’s favor for good en route to a big 72-61 win over the Rams Saturday night at the Cintas Center.
The Musketeers (13-6, 5-1) trailed Rhode Island (15-3, 3-2), 35-28, with 17:57 to go in the second half, when Crawford put together a one-man show to carry Xavier over the hump and on its way.
After Marquis Jones (8 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) hit a pair of freebies to give the Rams the 7-point lead, Crawford immediately took the inbounds pass, sliced through URI’s press and finger rolled it home to get the run started.
After the Rams missed on their next possession, Crawford pulled down the board, drove through the defense again, and found Jason Love (10 pts, 8 reb) for the easy layup to cut Xavier’s deficit to three, 35-32. When URI misfired again, Crawford grabbed the board, then freed himself for a long three from the top of the key to knot the game at 35.
URI missed again on its next possession, and it was Crawford there again for the rebound. Terrell Holloway (12 pts, 4 ast) pushed the ball up the floor and found Crawford in the corner for an open three to give Xavier its first lead of the night, 38-35.
One minute, 14 seconds – Crawford eight points, three rebounds, one assist. Rhode Island never took led again, and Crawford made sure of that. When Rhode Island later trimmed Xavier’s deficit to one, 42-41, with under 15 minutes to play, Crawford found Love again for a bucket inside to put Xavier back up three.
When URI tied the game at 43, Crawford found Brad Redford (3 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast) in the corner for a triple to put Xavier back up for good with 12:05 to play. Crawford twice helped extend Xavier’s lead to six – once with another three and again finding Andrew Taylor (4 pts, 3 reb) on a fastbreak layup with 9:16 to play.
Holloway increased Xavier’s lead to nine with a pair of free throws, 59-50, and a beautiful no-look pass from Crawford to Jamel McLean (16 pts, 8 reb) for a jam brought the house to its feet and Xavier to an 11-point advantage.
Saddled by foul trouble for much of the game, Love shook free in Xavier’s second-half resurgence. After the Rams cut Xavier’s lead back down to seven, 63-56, Love dunked home a Holloway feed, then laid home a Crawford miss to give Xavier back the 11-point advantage.
And with under two minutes to go, Holloway gave Xavier its largest lead of the night with three the hard way when he drove for a lay-up while drawing the foul. After Jones answered with a pair of free throws, Mark Lyons (2 points) capped the evening’s scoring with lay-up off a fastbreak assist from Crawford.
The Musketeers stumbled through the first half to a season-low 26 points. Though Xavier shot a respectable 40 percent from the field, they committed 12 turnovers in the first half alone. They also went without a three-point field goal in the opening half for the first time all season.
Rhode Island scored the game’s first five points, and never allowed Xavier to take the lead in the first half. Their pressure defense frustrated Xavier’s guards, preventing the Musketeers from generating any offensive flow. The Rams never led during the half by more than three until Delroy James (10 pts, 3 reb) stole a pass from Lyons and took it in for a jam to put URI up, 11-7, with just under 13 minutes left in the first half.
A short jumper by McLean and a tip-in from Crawford off his own miss knotted the game. After Lamonte Ulmer (12 pts, 2 reb) gave the lead back to Rhode Island off a fastbreak lay-up, Taylor tied it again with under 11 minutes to go, but it would be the final time the Musketeers would be even with the Rams until Crawford’s outburst in the second half.
A lay-up by Keith Cothran (12 pts, 4 reb, 4 stl) put the Rams up three, and a pair of free throws from Jones gave the Rams a five-point advantage, 20-15, with under six minutes until the intermission. After Xavier modestly trimmed URI’s lead, Ulmer stretched his team’s advantage back out to five off an alley-oop pass from Jones at the 1:36 mark.
With Xavier still trailing by five and trying to set up for a final shot before halftime, Lyons’ driving lay-up was blocked by a Ram but cleaned up with a thundering flush from McLean just before the horn.
Xavier wasn’t any less lethargic coming out of the break, as URI scored the half’s first four points to take a 7-point lead, 33-26, off a jumper from Ulmer. Xavier still trailed by seven, 35-28, when Crawford keyed Xavier on the game-changing run.
In the midst of Xavier’s woeful first half, Crawford was the lone bright spot, scoring 10 of Xavier’s 26 points. The Musketeers were also an abysmal 50 percent from the free-throw line in the first half, and still only finished with a 55 percent clip.
Fortunately for Xavier, Rhode Island wasn’t much better, also recording a season-low 29 points in the first half and finishing with a season-low offensive output of 61 points.
The Musketeers were noticeably better on the defensive end in the second-half, as well as on offense where they shot 58 percent in the final 20 minutes. Rhode Island shot just 2-for-15 from long range for the game.
Xavier dominated the glass, 39-29, led by a career-high 12 rebounds from Crawford. Crawford notched his first career double-double, followed by 16 from McLean, 12 from Holloway and a productive 10 from Love.
Ulmer and Cothran tied for the team-high of 12 points, with James adding 10 in the losing effort.
The Musketeers will remain in the friendly confines to take on the Duquesne Dukes on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Dukes (10-9, 1-4) are coming off a 70-69 win over St. Bonaventure. The Dukes handed the Musketeers their first conference loss last season, winning 72-68 at the Palumbo Center.