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02-18-2008, 10:29 PM
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Duncan, #10 Xavier weather Rhode Island, 81-77
By Mike Damone
Xavier senior Josh Duncan has garnered resounding notice for All-Conference consideration and, perhaps, serious scrutiny for a career at the next level. With his second-straight 20-plus-point performance and a perfect 15-for-15 from the field in his last two games, he’s getting too loud to ignore. From Xavier’s standpoint, Duncan is quickly becoming the team’s most reliable scorer, inside or outside, with big bucket after big bucket, for the Atlantic 10-leading Musketeers (22-4, 10-1).
The Rhode Island Rams (20-6, 6-5), the team responsible for Xavier’s semifinal exit in the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season, boasted a perfect 11-0 home record on the season, along with three of the conference’s most talented offensive weapons in Will Daniels, Jimmy Baron and Parfait Bitee. Daniels (23 pts) and Bitee (25 pts, 7 assists) combined for 26 of Rhode Island’s 33 first-half points, and provided an inside-outside load that was almost too much on the defensive end for the Musketeers.
After an early URI lead, followed by a back-and-forth effort from both teams, Xavier was scoring inside and out in the first half, to stretch their lead to double-digits. But once the Rams switched to a zone, the Musketeers became tentative, settling for more outside shots instead of going inside at the very least to draw fouls. Xavier’s struggles spanned the halftime intermission, as Rhode Island used a 17-6 run to regain the lead at 51-50 with just over 13 minutes left in the game. Xavier went for over five minutes without a single bucket over the course of URI’s run, before Stanely Burrell’s (9 pts, 7 assists, 6 reb) long jumper gave the Musketeers the lead back, 52-51.
With under eight minutes left, Rhode Island tied its largest lead of the game at three with a Lamonte Ulmer lay-up. Ulmer (7 pts, 5 reb) would break a tie created by a Drew Lavender (8 pts) three-pointer, before Duncan’s three took away URI’s last lead, 60-59. An Ulmer free throw tied the score back up, but another long jumper from Burrell gave Xavier the lead for good with over seven minutes to play, 62-60. Duncan scored eight points in this critical stretch to keep the Rams at arm’s length.
Xavier would use a 7-1 run, to take a 69-61 lead to seemingly take control of the game with a chance to milk the clock. But a pair of Xavier fouls gave the Rams new life with under two minutes left. Two Baron free throws and five late points from Keith Cothran (7 points) cut the Xavier lead to just five, 73-68.
The Rams caught momentary fire, cutting Xavier’s lead to just two at one point, 76-74, but Xavier went 10-for-12 from the free throw line down the stretch to ice their eighth-straight win, and fifth straight on the road.
Baron was held to 0-for-7 shooting by Xavier’s defensive ace Burrell, finishing with just two points on free throws despite coming into the contest averaging 15.3 points per game.
Duncan was key throughout the game, but with Xavier leading 44-32 in the first half and the senior forward already with 15, it wasn’t certain whether his presence would be felt in the second half after picking up his third foul with under 30 seconds. Earlier on, Duncan got the Musketeers going on a 16-2 run that put them up 41-27, scoring half of Xavier’s points on the offensive outburst. BJ Raymond (14 points) also chipped in 10 first-half points to help Xavier to a 44-34 halftime lead.
For the second-consecutive game, the Musketeers fought foul trouble, trying to keep a quick offensive team in front of them. CJ Anderson (9 pts, 5 reb) would foul out with just under two minutes left, while Duncan and Derrick Brown (7 points) finished the game with four apiece. Despite the happy whistles from the officials – Xavier was called for 25 personal fouls – the Musketeers were able to win the battle of the boards against a very good rebounding team, 32-28. Jason Love (9 pts) pulled in a team-high nine rebounds, Burrell followed with six, while Anderson and Duncan added five apiece.
After now avenging last season’s loss to Rhode Island, Xavier will ride the vengeance road back to the Cintas Center to take on the Dukes of Duquesne on Thursday at 7 p.m. Duquesne was the last team in the 2007 A-10 regular season to beat the Musketeers, beating them in a thriller last season in Pittsburgh, 93-91. The Dukes (16-8, 6-5) are coming off a 69-66 loss at home to Richmond.
Duncan, #10 Xavier weather Rhode Island, 81-77
By Mike Damone
Xavier senior Josh Duncan has garnered resounding notice for All-Conference consideration and, perhaps, serious scrutiny for a career at the next level. With his second-straight 20-plus-point performance and a perfect 15-for-15 from the field in his last two games, he’s getting too loud to ignore. From Xavier’s standpoint, Duncan is quickly becoming the team’s most reliable scorer, inside or outside, with big bucket after big bucket, for the Atlantic 10-leading Musketeers (22-4, 10-1).
The Rhode Island Rams (20-6, 6-5), the team responsible for Xavier’s semifinal exit in the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season, boasted a perfect 11-0 home record on the season, along with three of the conference’s most talented offensive weapons in Will Daniels, Jimmy Baron and Parfait Bitee. Daniels (23 pts) and Bitee (25 pts, 7 assists) combined for 26 of Rhode Island’s 33 first-half points, and provided an inside-outside load that was almost too much on the defensive end for the Musketeers.
After an early URI lead, followed by a back-and-forth effort from both teams, Xavier was scoring inside and out in the first half, to stretch their lead to double-digits. But once the Rams switched to a zone, the Musketeers became tentative, settling for more outside shots instead of going inside at the very least to draw fouls. Xavier’s struggles spanned the halftime intermission, as Rhode Island used a 17-6 run to regain the lead at 51-50 with just over 13 minutes left in the game. Xavier went for over five minutes without a single bucket over the course of URI’s run, before Stanely Burrell’s (9 pts, 7 assists, 6 reb) long jumper gave the Musketeers the lead back, 52-51.
With under eight minutes left, Rhode Island tied its largest lead of the game at three with a Lamonte Ulmer lay-up. Ulmer (7 pts, 5 reb) would break a tie created by a Drew Lavender (8 pts) three-pointer, before Duncan’s three took away URI’s last lead, 60-59. An Ulmer free throw tied the score back up, but another long jumper from Burrell gave Xavier the lead for good with over seven minutes to play, 62-60. Duncan scored eight points in this critical stretch to keep the Rams at arm’s length.
Xavier would use a 7-1 run, to take a 69-61 lead to seemingly take control of the game with a chance to milk the clock. But a pair of Xavier fouls gave the Rams new life with under two minutes left. Two Baron free throws and five late points from Keith Cothran (7 points) cut the Xavier lead to just five, 73-68.
The Rams caught momentary fire, cutting Xavier’s lead to just two at one point, 76-74, but Xavier went 10-for-12 from the free throw line down the stretch to ice their eighth-straight win, and fifth straight on the road.
Baron was held to 0-for-7 shooting by Xavier’s defensive ace Burrell, finishing with just two points on free throws despite coming into the contest averaging 15.3 points per game.
Duncan was key throughout the game, but with Xavier leading 44-32 in the first half and the senior forward already with 15, it wasn’t certain whether his presence would be felt in the second half after picking up his third foul with under 30 seconds. Earlier on, Duncan got the Musketeers going on a 16-2 run that put them up 41-27, scoring half of Xavier’s points on the offensive outburst. BJ Raymond (14 points) also chipped in 10 first-half points to help Xavier to a 44-34 halftime lead.
For the second-consecutive game, the Musketeers fought foul trouble, trying to keep a quick offensive team in front of them. CJ Anderson (9 pts, 5 reb) would foul out with just under two minutes left, while Duncan and Derrick Brown (7 points) finished the game with four apiece. Despite the happy whistles from the officials – Xavier was called for 25 personal fouls – the Musketeers were able to win the battle of the boards against a very good rebounding team, 32-28. Jason Love (9 pts) pulled in a team-high nine rebounds, Burrell followed with six, while Anderson and Duncan added five apiece.
After now avenging last season’s loss to Rhode Island, Xavier will ride the vengeance road back to the Cintas Center to take on the Dukes of Duquesne on Thursday at 7 p.m. Duquesne was the last team in the 2007 A-10 regular season to beat the Musketeers, beating them in a thriller last season in Pittsburgh, 93-91. The Dukes (16-8, 6-5) are coming off a 69-66 loss at home to Richmond.