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02-28-2010, 07:42 PM
Xavier survives #23 Spiders’ bite, prevails in double OT, 78-76
by Mike Damone
One of the many subplots manifest in Sunday afternoon’s clash between two of the Atlantic 10’s top teams was the game’s potential impact on the conference player of the year voting. Consistent with the vagaries of such a pivotal conference match-up, members of each team’s supporting cast instead made the plays to keep their respective teams in the hunt.
Kevin Anderson (17 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) of the #23 Richmond Spiders (22-7, 11-3) gave way to teammate David Gonzalvez (18 pts, 9 reb), whose long three from the wing knotted the game with 26 seconds left to send it to overtime. On the other end, Jordan Crawford (19 pts, 3 reb) deferred to fellow Musketeer Terrell Holloway (24 pts, 5 reb), whose 11 extra frame minutes spurred Xavier to victory, 78-76, in a double-overtime thriller at the Cintas Center.
The Musketeers and Spiders – two parts of a three-way tie for first in the conference heading into Sunday’s game – tangled for 12 ties and 14 lead changes before the game was decided after 50 minutes of action.
Jason Love (16 pts, 9 reb) put the Musketeers (21-7, 12-2) up three, 64-61, with just 49 seconds to go in the second half when he rebounded a Dante Jackson miss and put it home while getting fouled. Love missed on the ensuing free throw, and Gonzalvez made the Musketeers pay, canning a three with 26 seconds to go on Richmond’s next possession to tie the game.
Crawford’s attempted game-winner was strong off the back iron, and extra minutes were needed to decide the victor.
After Anderson gave Richmond the opening lead with a runner, Holloway knotted it back up with a short jump shot. After a Richmond turnover, Holloway gave Xavier back the lead with a driving bucket, 68-66, with 3:18 left.
Anderson answered with a long jumper, and Dan Geriot (10 pts, 7 reb) gave the Spiders back the lead with a short jumper when he was left alone to spot up. After a Xavier miss, Gonzalvez gathered the long rebound and was headed the other way to extend Richmond’s lead. But Crawford tracked him down and stripped him just as Gonzalvez was going up for a potential four-point Spider advantage.
Crawford drove the ball the other way and would miss on the finger-roll, but Love was there for the tip in to tie it yet again.
Both teams had a chance to regain the lead, but two empty possessions for each squad led to a second overtime, including a heavily-contested baseline runner that Crawford missed just before the horn, which would have one the game.
But similar to Xavier’s previous 50-minute victory – a 78-74 conquest of Cincinnati last December – when the game clock struck “double overtime,” it was effectively Holloway’s time.
Holloway started the scoring in the second overtime with a three from the wing to give Xavier the 73-70 lead. Anderson responded with long jump shot just inside the arc, but Holloway put Xavier back up three with a step back jumper with 3:04 left.
Gonzalvez was whistled for a charge on Richmond’s next possession, and Holloway was fouled and poked in the eye on a drive to the hoop, but made both freebies through a swollen eyelid to put Xavier up, 77-72.
Xavier looked to be on its way when it got the ball back with the lead remaining at five, but Holloway’s long miss sent Richmond on a fastbreak, where Ryan Butler (9 pts, 4 ast, 2 reb) converted while being fouled to bring Richmond to within two.
Richmond’s relentless halfcourt defense prevented Xavier from getting much space on offense, as the Musketeers went scoreless for one minute in the second OT. Geriot hit 1-of-2 free throws to bring Richmond back to within one, 77-76, with just 14 seconds to go.
Xavier worked the ball inside to Love on its next possession, and the big man was fouled going up for shot. Love made good on only the first attempt from the free-throw line, allowing Richmond some life, but Justin Harper’s (15 pts, 2 reb) driving attempt was short, allowing Xavier to escape with the critical win.
Regulation was as heavily contested as the overtime periods. Xavier built a 22-15 lead 11 minutes into the first half, with Crawford contributing nine for the early lead. The seven-point lead was Xavier’s largest of the game, and came on the back of a 7-0 run that was capped by a hook shot from Mark Lyons (10 pts, 6 reb).
Anderson – Richmond’s leading scorer – went scoreless in the first half, but the Spiders remained in the game on the back off of eight first-half three-pointers. Gonzalvez and Kevin Smith (5 pts, 3 reb) hit back-to-back three’s to cut Xavier’s lead to one, 22-21, and Geriot gave Richmond back the lead with a three, 24-23.
Richmond later led by three, but a 7-0 run gave Xavier a four-point advantage, 36-32, capped by a long three from Crawford with 1:35 left in the first half. Xavier maintained a four-point lead at the intermission after Holloway cut through the Richmond defense for a lay-up before the horn.
Richmond scored the second half’s first five points to regain the lead off a Harper triple. The lead continued to change hands, with Xavier taking a six-point lead on several occasions, but failing to put away the Spiders.
Anderson came alive in the second half, scoring 11 and leading the Spider rally. Xavier led by five, 62-57, with just two minutes to go, but Richmond’s defense tightened, holding Xavier scoreless for more than a minute, while scoring four to cut their deficit to one, 62-61. Love appeared to seal the game when he was fouled while putting back an offensive board, but his free throw missed, setting up Gonzalvez’s game-tying three.
Holloway scored a game-high 24 points, followed by 19 from Crawford. Love just missed a double-double, scoring 16 and pulling down nine rebounds. Lyons rounded out the double-figure Musketeers with 10. Jamel McLean (9 pts, 13 reb) pulled down a game-high 13 boards to go with his nine points.
Four Spiders also scored in double-figures, led by Gonzalvez’s 18. After a slow first half, Anderson managed 17 for the game, followed by 15 from Harper, and 10 from Geriot.
Richmond started the game on fire from three, but cooled to a respectable 41 percent from long range for the game. Xavier out-rebounded the under-sized Spiders, 47-35, and went to the free-throw line 21 times to just six for Richmond, where Xavier shot 71 percent.
The Musketeers committed an ugly 20 turnovers to just seven assists.
The Xavier win does not quite deliver a fourth-straight Atlantic 10 regular season title, but slightly de-clutters the top of the A-10 standings, with Xavier and Temple currently tied for first at 12-2. The Musketeers’ remaining conference schedule is manageable, with both opponents combining for just six conference wins.
Richmond’s season-high eight-game winning streak is snapped, while Xavier extends its streak to a season-high five-consecutive victories. The win also gives Love a tie atop the list for all-time winningest Musketeers at 103, along with the recently-graduated BJ Raymond.
The Musketeers will now take on the A-10 bottom-dwelling Fordham Rams for the Musketeers’ final road game of the regular season on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Bronx. The Rams (2-24, 0-14) are coming off a 73-68 loss to St. Bonaventure. Xavier ripped the Rams in the teams’ previous meeting last month in Cincinnati, 108-60.
by Mike Damone
One of the many subplots manifest in Sunday afternoon’s clash between two of the Atlantic 10’s top teams was the game’s potential impact on the conference player of the year voting. Consistent with the vagaries of such a pivotal conference match-up, members of each team’s supporting cast instead made the plays to keep their respective teams in the hunt.
Kevin Anderson (17 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) of the #23 Richmond Spiders (22-7, 11-3) gave way to teammate David Gonzalvez (18 pts, 9 reb), whose long three from the wing knotted the game with 26 seconds left to send it to overtime. On the other end, Jordan Crawford (19 pts, 3 reb) deferred to fellow Musketeer Terrell Holloway (24 pts, 5 reb), whose 11 extra frame minutes spurred Xavier to victory, 78-76, in a double-overtime thriller at the Cintas Center.
The Musketeers and Spiders – two parts of a three-way tie for first in the conference heading into Sunday’s game – tangled for 12 ties and 14 lead changes before the game was decided after 50 minutes of action.
Jason Love (16 pts, 9 reb) put the Musketeers (21-7, 12-2) up three, 64-61, with just 49 seconds to go in the second half when he rebounded a Dante Jackson miss and put it home while getting fouled. Love missed on the ensuing free throw, and Gonzalvez made the Musketeers pay, canning a three with 26 seconds to go on Richmond’s next possession to tie the game.
Crawford’s attempted game-winner was strong off the back iron, and extra minutes were needed to decide the victor.
After Anderson gave Richmond the opening lead with a runner, Holloway knotted it back up with a short jump shot. After a Richmond turnover, Holloway gave Xavier back the lead with a driving bucket, 68-66, with 3:18 left.
Anderson answered with a long jumper, and Dan Geriot (10 pts, 7 reb) gave the Spiders back the lead with a short jumper when he was left alone to spot up. After a Xavier miss, Gonzalvez gathered the long rebound and was headed the other way to extend Richmond’s lead. But Crawford tracked him down and stripped him just as Gonzalvez was going up for a potential four-point Spider advantage.
Crawford drove the ball the other way and would miss on the finger-roll, but Love was there for the tip in to tie it yet again.
Both teams had a chance to regain the lead, but two empty possessions for each squad led to a second overtime, including a heavily-contested baseline runner that Crawford missed just before the horn, which would have one the game.
But similar to Xavier’s previous 50-minute victory – a 78-74 conquest of Cincinnati last December – when the game clock struck “double overtime,” it was effectively Holloway’s time.
Holloway started the scoring in the second overtime with a three from the wing to give Xavier the 73-70 lead. Anderson responded with long jump shot just inside the arc, but Holloway put Xavier back up three with a step back jumper with 3:04 left.
Gonzalvez was whistled for a charge on Richmond’s next possession, and Holloway was fouled and poked in the eye on a drive to the hoop, but made both freebies through a swollen eyelid to put Xavier up, 77-72.
Xavier looked to be on its way when it got the ball back with the lead remaining at five, but Holloway’s long miss sent Richmond on a fastbreak, where Ryan Butler (9 pts, 4 ast, 2 reb) converted while being fouled to bring Richmond to within two.
Richmond’s relentless halfcourt defense prevented Xavier from getting much space on offense, as the Musketeers went scoreless for one minute in the second OT. Geriot hit 1-of-2 free throws to bring Richmond back to within one, 77-76, with just 14 seconds to go.
Xavier worked the ball inside to Love on its next possession, and the big man was fouled going up for shot. Love made good on only the first attempt from the free-throw line, allowing Richmond some life, but Justin Harper’s (15 pts, 2 reb) driving attempt was short, allowing Xavier to escape with the critical win.
Regulation was as heavily contested as the overtime periods. Xavier built a 22-15 lead 11 minutes into the first half, with Crawford contributing nine for the early lead. The seven-point lead was Xavier’s largest of the game, and came on the back of a 7-0 run that was capped by a hook shot from Mark Lyons (10 pts, 6 reb).
Anderson – Richmond’s leading scorer – went scoreless in the first half, but the Spiders remained in the game on the back off of eight first-half three-pointers. Gonzalvez and Kevin Smith (5 pts, 3 reb) hit back-to-back three’s to cut Xavier’s lead to one, 22-21, and Geriot gave Richmond back the lead with a three, 24-23.
Richmond later led by three, but a 7-0 run gave Xavier a four-point advantage, 36-32, capped by a long three from Crawford with 1:35 left in the first half. Xavier maintained a four-point lead at the intermission after Holloway cut through the Richmond defense for a lay-up before the horn.
Richmond scored the second half’s first five points to regain the lead off a Harper triple. The lead continued to change hands, with Xavier taking a six-point lead on several occasions, but failing to put away the Spiders.
Anderson came alive in the second half, scoring 11 and leading the Spider rally. Xavier led by five, 62-57, with just two minutes to go, but Richmond’s defense tightened, holding Xavier scoreless for more than a minute, while scoring four to cut their deficit to one, 62-61. Love appeared to seal the game when he was fouled while putting back an offensive board, but his free throw missed, setting up Gonzalvez’s game-tying three.
Holloway scored a game-high 24 points, followed by 19 from Crawford. Love just missed a double-double, scoring 16 and pulling down nine rebounds. Lyons rounded out the double-figure Musketeers with 10. Jamel McLean (9 pts, 13 reb) pulled down a game-high 13 boards to go with his nine points.
Four Spiders also scored in double-figures, led by Gonzalvez’s 18. After a slow first half, Anderson managed 17 for the game, followed by 15 from Harper, and 10 from Geriot.
Richmond started the game on fire from three, but cooled to a respectable 41 percent from long range for the game. Xavier out-rebounded the under-sized Spiders, 47-35, and went to the free-throw line 21 times to just six for Richmond, where Xavier shot 71 percent.
The Musketeers committed an ugly 20 turnovers to just seven assists.
The Xavier win does not quite deliver a fourth-straight Atlantic 10 regular season title, but slightly de-clutters the top of the A-10 standings, with Xavier and Temple currently tied for first at 12-2. The Musketeers’ remaining conference schedule is manageable, with both opponents combining for just six conference wins.
Richmond’s season-high eight-game winning streak is snapped, while Xavier extends its streak to a season-high five-consecutive victories. The win also gives Love a tie atop the list for all-time winningest Musketeers at 103, along with the recently-graduated BJ Raymond.
The Musketeers will now take on the A-10 bottom-dwelling Fordham Rams for the Musketeers’ final road game of the regular season on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Bronx. The Rams (2-24, 0-14) are coming off a 73-68 loss to St. Bonaventure. Xavier ripped the Rams in the teams’ previous meeting last month in Cincinnati, 108-60.