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01-14-2010, 12:04 AM
Xavier holds serve at home, holds off Charlotte, 86-74
by Mike Damone
The Musketeers treated themselves to a head start for the conference crown in winning their first two Atlantic 10 games away from the Cintas Center. Of course, invaluable conference road wins depreciate if a team can’t defend its homecourt. With a difficult home slate upcoming, Xavier (11-5, 3-0) remained on track, riding two offensive outbursts early in each half to topple the Charlotte 49ers, 86-74, Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
Xavier stretched a 16-point halftime lead to a 21-point advantage with 12:55 to go when Dante Jackson (14 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb) buried a three from the wing to give Xavier its largest lead of the night, 59-38. Charlotte (11-5, 1-1) tightened the game, scoring 10 points on five-straight possessions to cut Xavier’s lead to 13, 63-50, with 8:29 left. Chris Braswell (14 pts, 4 reb) added six points on the run.
A free throw from Kenny Frease (7 pts, 5 reb) extended the Musketeers’ lead back to 16, but a quick 8-2 run from the 49ers brought Charlotte to the closest it had been since the first half, 70-60, with under six minutes left.
Charlotte’s skilled frontcourt players in Braswell and Shamari Spears (13 pts, 5 reb) came alive in the second half, taking advantage of Frease and Jason Love’s (10 pts, 2 reb) foul trouble by going aggressively to the hoop. The 49ers also dramatically improved on their 32 percent first-half shooting by goinging 51 percent from the field in the second half.
Despite Xavier holding a semi-comfortable 11-point lead with 2:26 to go, the surging 49er offense kept the game somewhat interesting, before Xavier finally put the 49ers to bed with a triple from Brad Redford (12 points) and a driving lay-up from Jordan Crawford (18 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast) to put the Musketeers up 16, 84-68, just a moment later. The 49ers added a few late points for window dressing to provide the final margin.
Charlotte took its final lead of the game off an An’Juan Wilderness (15 pts, 3 reb) hoop and foul to put the 49ers up, 5-4, with 17:50 to go in the first half. Xavier then embarked on a 10-0 run for its first big stand. Jackson book-ended the run with a pair of three’s to give Xavier the 14-5 lead with under 15 minutes to go. Xavier began the game hitting seven of its first nine shots, while the 49ers struggled from the field early on, going just 2-for-8 over the game’s first five minutes.
A jumper from Charles Dewhurst (2 pts, 3 reb) would later trim Charlotte’s deficit to just six, 17-11, but four different Musketeers combined on a 9-0 Xavier run that effectively gave the Musketeers control of the contest. Crawford finished the run with three the hard way off a beautiful assist inside from Frease.
One sub-plot to Tuesday night’s contest was the abundance of whistles from the game’s officials. Love and Frease were forced to sit with foul trouble for a good portion of the first half, while Jackson picked up three fouls in the first half alone.
The Musketeers planned to hold for the final shot of the first half, but Terrell Holloway (9 pts, 3 ast) was fouled in the backcourt, sending him to the line where he made good on a free throw with13 seconds to go. Charlotte’s last attempt before the half missed, but Jeff Robinson (1 pt, 1 reb) was fouled on the rebound, and extended Xavier’s lead at the intermission to its largest at that point, 44-28.
The teams essentially traded buckets to start the half, until Jamel McLean (8 pts, 4 reb, 3 blks) slammed home a Love miss, Crawford drove for a lay-up and Jackson’s three gave Xavier its first 20-plus point lead.
The amassing fouls from both teams led to high offensive outputs on both sides, as players’ defensive intensity was squelched. The Musketeers went into the intermission with six players having two or more fouls, and Charlotte with five players in such trouble.
Jackson had a career-game for the Musketeers with 14 points, 6 assists and three rebounds in only 21 minutes of action, as he fouled out with almost nine left in the contest. Crawford had a game-high 18 points, followed by Jackson’s 14, 12 from Redford and 10 from Love.
Wilderness led four 49ers in double-figures with 15, followed by 14 from Braswell, 13 from Spears and 10 from Derrio Green. Charlotte was hampered by just 2-for-22 shooting from long distance, and only 66 percent shooting from the free-throw line. The Musketeers turned in a respectable 76 percent performance from the line.
The win gives the Musketeers their second-consecutive 3-0 start in the conference, and matches their longest winning streak of the season at three games. The Musketeers also possess the homecourt conference winning streak in Atlantic 10 history with 25 wins.
Xavier will now begin a critical three-game stretch that could go a long way in determining the Atlantic 10 regular season champion. The crucial stretch begins, appropriately, with Xavier’s biggest conference rival – the Dayton Flyers. The Flyers (13-3, 2-0) are coming off a 74-58 win over the Fordham Rams in New York City. The Musketeers and Flyers split their season series last year, with both teams winning on their respective home floor.
by Mike Damone
The Musketeers treated themselves to a head start for the conference crown in winning their first two Atlantic 10 games away from the Cintas Center. Of course, invaluable conference road wins depreciate if a team can’t defend its homecourt. With a difficult home slate upcoming, Xavier (11-5, 3-0) remained on track, riding two offensive outbursts early in each half to topple the Charlotte 49ers, 86-74, Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
Xavier stretched a 16-point halftime lead to a 21-point advantage with 12:55 to go when Dante Jackson (14 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb) buried a three from the wing to give Xavier its largest lead of the night, 59-38. Charlotte (11-5, 1-1) tightened the game, scoring 10 points on five-straight possessions to cut Xavier’s lead to 13, 63-50, with 8:29 left. Chris Braswell (14 pts, 4 reb) added six points on the run.
A free throw from Kenny Frease (7 pts, 5 reb) extended the Musketeers’ lead back to 16, but a quick 8-2 run from the 49ers brought Charlotte to the closest it had been since the first half, 70-60, with under six minutes left.
Charlotte’s skilled frontcourt players in Braswell and Shamari Spears (13 pts, 5 reb) came alive in the second half, taking advantage of Frease and Jason Love’s (10 pts, 2 reb) foul trouble by going aggressively to the hoop. The 49ers also dramatically improved on their 32 percent first-half shooting by goinging 51 percent from the field in the second half.
Despite Xavier holding a semi-comfortable 11-point lead with 2:26 to go, the surging 49er offense kept the game somewhat interesting, before Xavier finally put the 49ers to bed with a triple from Brad Redford (12 points) and a driving lay-up from Jordan Crawford (18 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast) to put the Musketeers up 16, 84-68, just a moment later. The 49ers added a few late points for window dressing to provide the final margin.
Charlotte took its final lead of the game off an An’Juan Wilderness (15 pts, 3 reb) hoop and foul to put the 49ers up, 5-4, with 17:50 to go in the first half. Xavier then embarked on a 10-0 run for its first big stand. Jackson book-ended the run with a pair of three’s to give Xavier the 14-5 lead with under 15 minutes to go. Xavier began the game hitting seven of its first nine shots, while the 49ers struggled from the field early on, going just 2-for-8 over the game’s first five minutes.
A jumper from Charles Dewhurst (2 pts, 3 reb) would later trim Charlotte’s deficit to just six, 17-11, but four different Musketeers combined on a 9-0 Xavier run that effectively gave the Musketeers control of the contest. Crawford finished the run with three the hard way off a beautiful assist inside from Frease.
One sub-plot to Tuesday night’s contest was the abundance of whistles from the game’s officials. Love and Frease were forced to sit with foul trouble for a good portion of the first half, while Jackson picked up three fouls in the first half alone.
The Musketeers planned to hold for the final shot of the first half, but Terrell Holloway (9 pts, 3 ast) was fouled in the backcourt, sending him to the line where he made good on a free throw with13 seconds to go. Charlotte’s last attempt before the half missed, but Jeff Robinson (1 pt, 1 reb) was fouled on the rebound, and extended Xavier’s lead at the intermission to its largest at that point, 44-28.
The teams essentially traded buckets to start the half, until Jamel McLean (8 pts, 4 reb, 3 blks) slammed home a Love miss, Crawford drove for a lay-up and Jackson’s three gave Xavier its first 20-plus point lead.
The amassing fouls from both teams led to high offensive outputs on both sides, as players’ defensive intensity was squelched. The Musketeers went into the intermission with six players having two or more fouls, and Charlotte with five players in such trouble.
Jackson had a career-game for the Musketeers with 14 points, 6 assists and three rebounds in only 21 minutes of action, as he fouled out with almost nine left in the contest. Crawford had a game-high 18 points, followed by Jackson’s 14, 12 from Redford and 10 from Love.
Wilderness led four 49ers in double-figures with 15, followed by 14 from Braswell, 13 from Spears and 10 from Derrio Green. Charlotte was hampered by just 2-for-22 shooting from long distance, and only 66 percent shooting from the free-throw line. The Musketeers turned in a respectable 76 percent performance from the line.
The win gives the Musketeers their second-consecutive 3-0 start in the conference, and matches their longest winning streak of the season at three games. The Musketeers also possess the homecourt conference winning streak in Atlantic 10 history with 25 wins.
Xavier will now begin a critical three-game stretch that could go a long way in determining the Atlantic 10 regular season champion. The crucial stretch begins, appropriately, with Xavier’s biggest conference rival – the Dayton Flyers. The Flyers (13-3, 2-0) are coming off a 74-58 win over the Fordham Rams in New York City. The Musketeers and Flyers split their season series last year, with both teams winning on their respective home floor.