kyxu
02-24-2008, 07:01 PM
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#10 Muskies claim regular season from Flyers, rest of conference, 57-51
by Mike Damone
The ever-present “Red Scare” – a united front of monochromatic Dayton students out in full force to intimidate teams visiting UD Arena – might as well have been used to celebrate a “red letter” day for the #10 Xavier Musketeers (24-4, 12-1) on Sunday afternoon in Dayton.
The perfunctory series statistics – Xavier notching its fifth-straight win against its conference rival, its second-straight over the Flyers at UD Arena, and Xavier’s 14th out of the last 17 against UD – will have to make way for now in order to celebrate the clinching of a second-consecutive regular season Atlantic 10 title, as well as a tie for the school record for most regular season victories (24).
With just three more regular season games remaining, the Musketeers seem to be reaching new heights on almost a weekly basis, as the Musketeers could now become the most successful team, on paper, in school history with a win next Saturday. Xavier didn’t turn in a perfect game, however, winning with their fewest point total since a 55-36 win over Miami of Ohio on December 9, 2003. But in holding the Dayton Flyers (17-9, 5-8) to under 38 percent shooting, it was just enough to give the Musketeers their 10th-straight victory and continue their roll through the Atlantic 10.
A Jason Love (8 pts, 4 reb) jumper gave XU their largest lead of the game, 43-33, with just over 11 minutes left before the Flyers went on a 9-2 run to cut the Xavier lead to three at 45-42 at around the seven-minute mark. A free throw from BJ Raymond (1 point) and a short jumper from Derrick Brown (7 pts, 9 reb) pushed Xavier back up by six before each team exchanged scores – either through free throws or field goals – to provide the final margin. Josh Duncan (14 pts, 4 reb) and Drew Lavender (9 pts) each went a perfect 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Duncan’s offensive output paced the Musketeers for the third time in four games, while Brown pulled down a game-high nine boards. Once again, Burrell turned in an outstanding defensive performance on an opposing team’s star player, holding Roberts (15 pts) below his season average off just 28 percent shooting from the field. Roberts did not score in the second half until he hit a pair of free throws with under eight minutes remaining, and didn't hit a jump shot until a three with 26 seconds left.
Both Duncan and Burrell shared the Blackburn-McCafferty Trophy -- the trophy given to the MVP of each Xavier-Dayton game -- giving Burrell his second claim to the award, as well as helping to validate the impact Duncan has had on Xavier's conference success.
This game wasn't without a bit of subplot, however. As if Burrell needed additional incentive to lock down Roberts, the Xavier senior guard was reportedly irked by comments made by Roberts to the Dayton Daily News that Roberts' flu-like symptoms during his five-point performance against Xavier in January were largely overlooked by the media. This time out, a healthy Roberts went 4-for-14 from the floor. Burrell went down briefly with a minor injury in the first half, but freshman Danté Jackson (4 points) kept up the defensive pace, quickly forcing Roberts into a turnover.
The game began with both teams trading baskets to a 7-7 tie, until a 6-0 Xavier run gave the Musketeers an early 13-7 lead. After the Flyers knotted the score at 17, a Love jam broke the tie, giving Xavier a 19-17 lead. Surprisingly, this early bucket actually gave the Musketeers the lead for good, as Dayton not once took the lead during Sunday’s contest. Xavier took their largest lead of the first half, 24-17, off a CJ Anderson (6 pts, 5 reb) jumper, but the Flyers went on a 10-5 run to trim Xavier’s lead at halftime, 29-27.
Xavier would build relatively solid leads throughout the second half, but the Flyers would not go away, as this game represented possibly their final opportunity to make a case to the NCAA Tournament committee for an at-large bid, as well as salvage a season that has gone south very quickly. With the loss, the Flyers are now in serious danger of missing their own conference tournament, as they now sit alone in the 12th spot, out of 14, of the Atlantic 10. Things don't get any easier for UD, with three more games to go for the Flyers, two of which are on the road, where UD is 1-5 in the conference, and the third being against the second-place St. Joseph’s Hawks at UD Arena.
The Xavier Musketeers, on the other hand, have all but locked up an at-large bid and are racking up wins to pad a potentially high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Today’s victory guaranteed the Musketeers will get a one seed in the conference tournament, but a win against George Washington on Saturday would clinch the top spot in the conference along with an outright regular season title, which escaped Xavier last year due to an identical conference record of 13-3 with the UMass Minutemen.
The Musketeers will take a bit of a hiatus before facing the George Washington Colonels at the Cintas Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. A win would, of course, give Xavier its first outright regular season conference title since the 2002-03 season. Xavier’s previous meeting with the Colonels was a hard-fought 74-66 win in Foggy Bottom. The Colonels (8-14, 4-8) are coming off a 59-53 win at home over the Richmond Spiders.
#10 Muskies claim regular season from Flyers, rest of conference, 57-51
by Mike Damone
The ever-present “Red Scare” – a united front of monochromatic Dayton students out in full force to intimidate teams visiting UD Arena – might as well have been used to celebrate a “red letter” day for the #10 Xavier Musketeers (24-4, 12-1) on Sunday afternoon in Dayton.
The perfunctory series statistics – Xavier notching its fifth-straight win against its conference rival, its second-straight over the Flyers at UD Arena, and Xavier’s 14th out of the last 17 against UD – will have to make way for now in order to celebrate the clinching of a second-consecutive regular season Atlantic 10 title, as well as a tie for the school record for most regular season victories (24).
With just three more regular season games remaining, the Musketeers seem to be reaching new heights on almost a weekly basis, as the Musketeers could now become the most successful team, on paper, in school history with a win next Saturday. Xavier didn’t turn in a perfect game, however, winning with their fewest point total since a 55-36 win over Miami of Ohio on December 9, 2003. But in holding the Dayton Flyers (17-9, 5-8) to under 38 percent shooting, it was just enough to give the Musketeers their 10th-straight victory and continue their roll through the Atlantic 10.
A Jason Love (8 pts, 4 reb) jumper gave XU their largest lead of the game, 43-33, with just over 11 minutes left before the Flyers went on a 9-2 run to cut the Xavier lead to three at 45-42 at around the seven-minute mark. A free throw from BJ Raymond (1 point) and a short jumper from Derrick Brown (7 pts, 9 reb) pushed Xavier back up by six before each team exchanged scores – either through free throws or field goals – to provide the final margin. Josh Duncan (14 pts, 4 reb) and Drew Lavender (9 pts) each went a perfect 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Duncan’s offensive output paced the Musketeers for the third time in four games, while Brown pulled down a game-high nine boards. Once again, Burrell turned in an outstanding defensive performance on an opposing team’s star player, holding Roberts (15 pts) below his season average off just 28 percent shooting from the field. Roberts did not score in the second half until he hit a pair of free throws with under eight minutes remaining, and didn't hit a jump shot until a three with 26 seconds left.
Both Duncan and Burrell shared the Blackburn-McCafferty Trophy -- the trophy given to the MVP of each Xavier-Dayton game -- giving Burrell his second claim to the award, as well as helping to validate the impact Duncan has had on Xavier's conference success.
This game wasn't without a bit of subplot, however. As if Burrell needed additional incentive to lock down Roberts, the Xavier senior guard was reportedly irked by comments made by Roberts to the Dayton Daily News that Roberts' flu-like symptoms during his five-point performance against Xavier in January were largely overlooked by the media. This time out, a healthy Roberts went 4-for-14 from the floor. Burrell went down briefly with a minor injury in the first half, but freshman Danté Jackson (4 points) kept up the defensive pace, quickly forcing Roberts into a turnover.
The game began with both teams trading baskets to a 7-7 tie, until a 6-0 Xavier run gave the Musketeers an early 13-7 lead. After the Flyers knotted the score at 17, a Love jam broke the tie, giving Xavier a 19-17 lead. Surprisingly, this early bucket actually gave the Musketeers the lead for good, as Dayton not once took the lead during Sunday’s contest. Xavier took their largest lead of the first half, 24-17, off a CJ Anderson (6 pts, 5 reb) jumper, but the Flyers went on a 10-5 run to trim Xavier’s lead at halftime, 29-27.
Xavier would build relatively solid leads throughout the second half, but the Flyers would not go away, as this game represented possibly their final opportunity to make a case to the NCAA Tournament committee for an at-large bid, as well as salvage a season that has gone south very quickly. With the loss, the Flyers are now in serious danger of missing their own conference tournament, as they now sit alone in the 12th spot, out of 14, of the Atlantic 10. Things don't get any easier for UD, with three more games to go for the Flyers, two of which are on the road, where UD is 1-5 in the conference, and the third being against the second-place St. Joseph’s Hawks at UD Arena.
The Xavier Musketeers, on the other hand, have all but locked up an at-large bid and are racking up wins to pad a potentially high seed in the NCAA Tournament. Today’s victory guaranteed the Musketeers will get a one seed in the conference tournament, but a win against George Washington on Saturday would clinch the top spot in the conference along with an outright regular season title, which escaped Xavier last year due to an identical conference record of 13-3 with the UMass Minutemen.
The Musketeers will take a bit of a hiatus before facing the George Washington Colonels at the Cintas Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. A win would, of course, give Xavier its first outright regular season conference title since the 2002-03 season. Xavier’s previous meeting with the Colonels was a hard-fought 74-66 win in Foggy Bottom. The Colonels (8-14, 4-8) are coming off a 59-53 win at home over the Richmond Spiders.