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kyxu
01-31-2010, 07:03 PM
Dominant second half buries Fordham, 108-60
by Mike Damone

With a string of road challenges facing the Musketeers in the coming days, it’s vital to their conference and postseason hopes to take care of business in the games they should. Even in an Atlantic 10 conference that’s more competitive than it has been in years, there’s not much more of a “gimme” than what the Musketeers encountered Sunday afternoon, as Xavier overcame a sluggish opening half to blow the horns off the hapless Fordham Rams, 108-60, in Cincinnati.

The contest did not begin as painless as planned for Xavier (15-6, 7-1). With the Musketeers building an early 14-4 lead just over five minutes into the game, the Rams (2-18, 0-8) went on a 9-0 run to stun Xavier early, cutting Fordham’s deficit to one, 14-13. Chris Gaston (23 pts, 9 reb) was a one-man battering Ram for Fordham, scoring six points on the run and tallying 17 in the first half alone.

But while some of his teammates stumbled early, Jordan Crawford (23 pts, 3 ast, 3 stl) kept the Musketeers ahead despite the Rams’ charge. The sophomore from Detroit was able to get to the rim with ease, cutting through Fordham’s defense for 17 first-half points of his own. Crawford was 6-for-7 in the opening half, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

With the Rams hanging in the game, trailing by just six, 28-22, with 4:17 left in the first half, Xavier embarked on an 11-2 run to effectively give them control, 39-24. The Musketeers held a modest 13-point advantage, 45-32, at the break.

It got ugly relatively quickly for the Rams in the second half. Xavier scored the first six points, and soon built a 23-point lead, 59-36, when Terrell Holloway (5 pts, 10 ast) stepped in front of a Fordham pass and found Crawford on the fastbreak, where he finished with a reverse slam.

From there, the Xavier onslaught snowballed, as the Musketeers went on a 20-2 run to bring their lead to 38, 78-40. Jamel McLean (16 pts, 7 reb) put Xavier up 31 with a slam off a feed from Crawford, and Brad Redford (11 points) finished the run with a three, thanks to an Andrew Taylor (4 pts, 4 reb) offensive rebound.

The Rams had no answer, with Gaston bottled up in the second half, and Brenton Butler (26 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) left to fend for himself against an inspired Xavier effort. With Fordham struggling from the field, the Musketeers’ lead continued to grow. Even when Chris Mack emptied his bench, the Rams saw little respite, as the Xavier reserves kept the hits coming.

In just two minutes of action, Joe Hughes (7 pts, 2 reb) scored seven points, including a free throw to put Xavier at the century mark for the third time this season. The Musketeers dished a season-high 26 assists on 39 field goals en route to a season-high 108 points. The Musketeers shot 58 percent from the field.

Crawford led Xavier with 23 points, followed by 16 from McLean. After recording his first career double-double last game, Kenny Frease (14 pts, 8 reb) narrowly missed his second, scoring 14 points to go with eight boards. Redford rounded out Xavier’s double-digit scorers with 11.

The Rams were much less offensively balanced, with Gaston and Butler accounting for 49 of Fordham’s 60 points. No other Ram scored more than five points, and only five players from Fordham scored at all.

Xavier has now won its last three games by an average close to 32 points. Such lopsided victories will likely cease as Xavier spends its next three games on the road. The trek will begin with a visit to Amherst on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to take on the UMass Minutemen. The Minutemen (8-13, 2-5) are coming off a 72-58 loss to the Charlotte 49ers. In last season’s meeting in Cincinnati, Xavier edged UMass 82-80.