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View Full Version : Musketeers dispatch Colonials in familiar confines, 71-53



kyxu
02-22-2009, 04:59 PM
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj89/xhoops/a28f5f84-66d3-4da3-a5ce-1cee4d96fb8.jpgMusketeers dispatch Colonials in familiar confines, 71-53
By Mike Damone

Despite the tribulations of the last two weeks for the Musketeers, home games have proven to be a salve for Xavier. The #16 Musketeers (22-5, 10-3) are undefeated on the year at home in conference play, winning by an average of 18.8 points, and haven’t lost at the Cintas Center in Atlantic 10 play since February 2006.

Sunday afternoon’s game was no exception. George Washington (8-16, 2-10) scored the game’s opening bucket off a Rob Diggs (2 pts, 4 reb) reverse jam, but it would be the Colonials’ first and only lead of the game, as the Musketeers lit up GW from long range in the first half, and held on in the second to earn a much-needed 71-53 win over the Colonials.

Xavier answered GW’s opening tally with a 9-0 run. Senior BJ Raymond (12 pts, 3 reb) scored the Musketeers’ first four points, and sophomore Dante Jackson (11 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) knocked down a three to give Xavier a 9-2 lead. Freshman Brad Redford (12 points) canned back-to-back threes to push Xavier out to an 11-point lead, 15-4, with 11:56 to play in the first.

Freshman Terrell Holloway (3 pts, 2 ast) hit a three to give the Musketeers their largest lead of the first half, 26-8, with 8:40 to go. Xavier did its best in maintaining the lead throughout the first half, heading into the intermission with a 36-20 advantage.

Xavier shot an impressive 50 percent from three-point land in the opening half, and helped themselves to five offensive rebounds during that span. Sophomore Jamel McLean (2 pts, 4 reb) continued to provide energy off the bench, hustling for long rebounds and playing stellar interior defense.

Xavier started the second on an 8-0 run, giving the Musketeers their largest lead of the game, 44-20, with 17:13 left. Jackson capped the run with a steal in the backcourt that he took to the house for an easy lay-up.

The Colonials wouldn’t surrender, however. George Washington went on a 13-2 run to cut Xavier’s lead to 13, 49-36, with just under 10 minutes to play. Wynton Witherspoon (13 points) led the Colonial charge, scoring eight points on the run both from inside and out.

Jackson quickly responded with a three for the Musketeers, but the Colonials threw a mixture of defenses to confuse the Musketeer offense, sometimes starting with a fullcourt press, then backing off into a match-up or 2-3 zone, a triangle-and-two or straight man-to-man defense. Despite GW’s defensive adjustments, they only forced the Musketeers into 11 turnovers to Xavier’s 14 assists.

George Washington would later use an 8-0 run to cut the Musketeer lead down to 11, 58-47, with under four minutes to play. Raymond would restore order with a three, followed by four-straight points from senior CJ Anderson (14 pts, 3 reb) to dash any hope of a GW rally, putting Xavier up 65-47 with under two minutes to play.

The Colonials were forced to foul in order to play catch-up, but the Musketeers hit 4-of-5 freebies down the stretch to ice the game. Junior Derrick Brown (11 pts, 6 reb) hit 9-of-10 free throws on the afternoon. Anderson even added a little icing on his team-leading performance when he hit a fall-away three just before the shot clock expired to provide the final margin.

Damian Hollis (15 pts, 8 reb) led all scorers with 15, while Anderson’s 14 paced five Musketeer double-figure scorers. Junior Jason Love’s (6 pts, 7 reb) seven rebounds led the Musketeers.

The win gives Xavier sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10 standings with just three regular season games to go. Xavier’s next home game will be its last, as conference rival Dayton heads down I-75 in less than two weeks in an attempt to reprise its 71-58 victory over Xavier from earlier this month.

But before the Musketeers can think revenge on the Flyers, they must deal with the St. Joseph’s Hawks at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Hawks took two of three last season against the Musketeers, including a 61-53 St. Joe win in the semifinals of the A-10 Conference Tournament. The Hawks (14-12, 7-5) are coming off a 70-69 loss at home to UMass. Xavier has not defeated St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia since January 2006.