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kyxu
03-13-2010, 11:00 AM
Late rally pushes #24 Xavier past Dayton, into Semis, 78-73
by Mike Damone

Desperation took the floor versus Revenge Saturday night in Atlantic City. The more galvanizing of the two forces would advance to the Semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament while the other would await its postseason fate.

For 30 minutes of Saturday night’s action, it appeared the Desperate Flyers of Dayton (20-12) would prevail and keep alive their rapidly dwindling NCAA Tournament hopes by defeating their archrival #24 Xavier Musketeers in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals. Instead, a 32-12 run in the game’s final 10 minutes allowed the Musketeers (24-7) to avenge a 25-point thrashing they suffered at the hands of the Flyers just a month ago, and likely seal Dayton’s NIT destiny in a 78-73 triumph.

The Flyers held command of the game for nearly 31 minutes, and a pair of Josh Benson (4 pts, 1 reb) free throws put the Flyers up 15, 61-46, with 10:37 to play. But Xavier quickly went to work on a 9-0 run to cut Dayton’s lead to six.

One of the Musketeers most responsible for Xavier’s 11th-hour resurgence, Terrell Holloway (22 pts, 3 ast, 2 reb), knocked down a three to bring Xavier to within 12, and Jordan Crawford (20 pts, 3 reb) went coast-to-coast after corralling a rebound and scoring while being fouled to bring Xavier to within nine, 61-52. Holloway then knocked down three free throws to bring Xavier to within six, 61-55, with 7:44 left.

The deficit remained at six after both teams exchanged free throws, before Crawford cut it to four on a layup with under six minutes left. Rob Lowery (14 pts, 4 ast) used a pair of free throws to put Dayton back up six, before Xavier went on a 5-0 run to bring them to within a point.

Jason Love (17 pts, 10 reb) and Holloway each got jumpers to go put the score at 65-64 in favor of the Flyers. And with Xavier trailing by two, Crawford dropped a floater in the lane to knot the game at 66.

Dayton missed on its next possession, with Love corralling the rebound, and Holloway put the Musketeers up for good, 69-66, after hitting a jumper while getting fouled, and cashing in on the free throw.

Chris Wright (17 pts, 4 reb, 4 blk) drove and scored to bring the Flyers to within one with 1:11 to go, and Crawford put Xavier up two with 37 seconds left after hitting 1-of-2 at the line.

Enter the pervading drama of a Dayton-Xavier match-up. With Dayton looking to set up for a final shot to tie or take the lead, Lowery dribbled past halfcourt to call for a timeout. Around the time of the whistle signaling timeout, Holloway slapped the ball from Lowery’s hands by chance the play was still live. Lowery retaliated, punching Holloway in the chest, and drawing a technical foul from the officials.

Holloway sank both free throws to put Xavier up four, and on Xavier’s ensuing possession, Holloway was fouled again and hit both to put Xavier up six, 74-68, with 32 seconds left, thus effectively quelling the Flyers’ chances.

After Marcus Johnson’s three went begging on Dayton’s next possession, Dante Jackson (5 pts, 6 reb) pulled down the board, was fouled and hit two more free throws to extend Xavier’s lead, 76-68, with 20 seconds left.

Marcus Johnson scored five points in the waning moments to keep the game respectable, while Xavier went a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe in the final 34 seconds to provide the final margin. The Musketeers shot 80 percent from the line for the game.

The Musketeers looked history during much of the game, but considering the Flyers’ penchant for coughing up sizable leads in the second half, it was best for Xavier to be patient and continue to attack the teeth of the Flyer defense.

The hot-shooting Flyers also went cold as the game wore on. In the deciding 32-12 stretch which won the game for the Musketeers, Dayton connected on just three field goals over 10 minutes, which all came in the game’s final 1:11.

Dayton scorched the nets with 53 percent shooting in the first half, including 71 percent from three. Wright and Marcus Johnson paced the Flyers in the first half with 11 and 10 points, respectively, in building a 40-35 lead at the break for the Flyers.

Dayton extended their lead to nine on several occasions in the second half’s opening minutes, before Paul Williams (6 pts, 4 reb) drained a three to put the Flyers up 12, 54-42, with under 15 minutes to go. Marcus Johnson extended the lead to 15 with a three, and Benson’s free throws kept the lead at 15.

From that point on, the Flyers went cold as the Musketeers’ defense tightened, holding Dayton to just seven points from the field for the duration of the game.

Holloway recorded a game-high 22 points, followed by 20 from Crawford. Love recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards, and Mark Lyons (8 pts, 4 reb) contributed eight off the bench.

Marcus Johnson led the Flyers with 18, and Wright added 17. Despite the game-impacting technical foul, Lowery had a solid evening for the Flyers with 14 points.

After having dominated Xavier on the glass in the previous two meetings, the Flyers were bested on the boards, 39-28, by the Musketeers. One culprit in Dayton’s recent rebounding success, Chris Johnson, made little impact in the game, finishing with just two rebounds and zero points.

The victory gives Xavier the season series win, and likely sends the Flyers to the NIT. Dayton entered the 2009-10 with much promise, returning 11 of their top 12 scorers from a 27-win season, and warranting Dayton the moniker as the prohibitive favorite to win the Atlantic 10.

Instead, the Flyers stumbled to an 8-8 conference record, with seven of those losses coming by no more than five points.

Xavier has now reached the conference semifinals for the ninth-consecutive year, but has failed to go beyond that point since 2006, when it last captured the A-10 Tournament crown. Getting over that mountain won’t be easy on Saturday, as the Musketeers face off against the 3-seed Richmond Spiders (25-7) at 3:30 p.m. Xavier needed two overtimes to survive the Spiders at the Cintas Center, 78-76, on February 28.