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Xavier Seniors Step Up to Challenge Against Hawks
By
Jay Skeldon,
2/10/2008
Facing a seven point deficit late in the second half against Saint Joseph on Sunday afternoon, the No. 13 Xavier Musketeers turned to their three seniors -- Stanley Burrell, Drew Lavender, and Josh Duncan. The trio remained calm and composed down the stretch, willing Xavier to a furious and thrilling 76-72 comeback win against an experienced and dangerous Hawks squad at the sold-out Cintas Center. Burrell led all XU scorers with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field including 3-of-4 3-pointers.
“Our seniors, their minds are in the right place - every one of them to a man, comes to play everyday.” said Xavier head coach Sean Miller. “Down the stretch today, those three guys, in particular, really came to play and turned it up a notch. They did a great job in finding a way to win."
Xavier, which improves to 20-4 overall and 8-1 in the Atlantic 10, now sits firmly atop the conference standings. The victory, the team’s sixth straight, puts Xavier over the 20-win mark for the 21st time in the last 26 years. Saint Joe’s, meanwhile, falls to 15-7 (6-3 A-10).
“In my time at Xavier, this was one of our best wins. There were so many different times in the second half when we could have just folded against a very good Saint Joseph's team; but, we just didn’t,” said Miller.
The game was marked by six lead changes and five ties. In many ways, it came down to which team would go on the last run before the clock expired. Luckily, that team was Xavier.
The Musketeers were down by seven points, 60-53, with 8:50 remaining in the game. Then the X-Men went to work, rattling off a 12-2 run over the next two and a half minutes. The run was capped by a Burrell 3-pointer to move Xavier back into the lead 65-62 with 6:13 left. The 10,250 capacity crowd of XU faithful at Cintas Center erupted.
The game was far from over, though, as SJU would regain the lead via a 3-pointer from senior Pat Calathes on the next possession. The Hawks followed that up with two free throws from point guard Tasheed Carr, a transfer from Iowa State, and a layup by Garrett Williamson. In just over a minute, Saint Joe’s was back in the command, 68-65, with 4:56 left.
The next two minutes were back and forth with SJU expanding its lead to four, 72-68, with two minutes left. Then Xavier reeled off an 8-0 run to end the game thanks to a basket from Duncan, 3-pointer from B.J. Raymond, and two Burrell free throws.
In addition to Burrell’s double-digit scoring effort, he also and contained Calathes, who entered the game averaging 18.6 points per game, in the final five minutes of the game. Though Calathes finished with 16 points and seven rebounds –including nine points in the first four minutes of the second half -- he scored just four points in the final 15 minutes of action. That is a credit to the defense of the Musketeers – particularly Burrell - down the stretch in the second half.
"I couldn't let him finish the game on us,” said Burrell. “It was a war. You've got to give them (Saint Joe’s) credit. I have scratches all over me. They wanted it bad as well… we just had a little more left in the tank.”
After the game, Saint Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli was gracious in his praise of Burrell. Martelli’s opened the press conference with a question, asking if anyone in the media room knew when Xavier’s graduation was, adding the following: "That goddamn Burrell. Every goddamn game, he makes a shot against us. When does he graduate? I want to be here to make sure he graduates and gets out of here."
Playing equally as important roles as Burrell were seniors Drew Lavender and Josh Duncan. Lavender scored 12 points and dished four assists while commanding the offensive against tough and hawking defenders. Perhaps Lavender’s biggest play of the game was his final assist of the game to B.J. Raymond.
After Burrell drove along the right baseline, he kicked out to Lavender at the top of the 3-point arc. Lavender was open for the shot, but he recognized Raymond was more open. The senior point guard swung the ball to Raymond on the left side, who converted for the go-ahead, game-winning 3-point basket with 0:45 seconds remaining.
"If there was a defining moment for Drew, it was that pass at the end of the game. He understood that B.J. was open."
Duncan continued his fine play with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, and just one turnover in 23 minutes of action. The senior forward also became the 45th member of the Xavier 1,000 point club with his basket with 11:31 left in the second half. The Musketeers now boast an impressive four current players – Stanley Burrell (1,499), Drew Lavender (1,332), C.J. Anderson (1,015), and Duncan (1,007) – that have scored 1,000 or more during this collegiate career.
Duncan is playing with an added toughness recently and continues to be central to the Musketeers’ continued success this season. Miller called his effort one of the best games he’s played this season.
As a team, the Musketeers shot 56.5% from the field (26-of-46) including a spectacular 60.0% from 3-point range (12-of-20). Contrast X’s shooting figures to SJU’s -- 46.4% FG and 40.0% 3-point FG – and you see one reason for Xavier’s win. The other main ingredient doesn’t show in the scorebook.
“Today wasn’t as much about great execution; but rather – as it needs to be in February – it was a lot about toughness and heart,” added Miller.
Martelli was effusive in his praise for Xavier in the post game press conference, indicating he was “scared to death coming in here because this is a team headed to the Top 10.” The veteran coach from Philly alluded to that same intangible ingredient that Miller pointed towards: defensive intensity and fierceness. He continued saying that this Xavier team is a reflection of its coach, Sean Miller.
“This team has a lot of ‘Sean’ in it. Sean is a tough guy. He looks Clark Kent-like, but he's going to fight you, scrap you…they just have a lot of that in them.”
The battle for the Atlantic 10 conference championship continues this week with two nasty road games for the Muskies. The first test begins on Wednesday night, February 13 as X travels to Charlotte to face-off against the fourth-place 49ers (14-8, 5-3). Five days later, the X-Men take on the third place Rhode Island Rams 20-4 (6-3) in the Ocean State. XU will need all of its scrap and fight to leave victorious.
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