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X Knocks Off Flyers for Second Time
By
Jay Skeldon,
2/24/2008
For the second straight season, the Musketeers are the Atlantic 10 Champions. Xavier locked up at minimum a share of the A-10 championship in knocking off the Dayton Flyers, 57-51, on their home court on Sunday afternoon. Seniors Josh Duncan, who scored 14 points, and Stanley Burrell, who scored eight points, recorded five assists, and locked down UD's Dayton Roberts, were awarded the Blackburn-McCafferty Trophy as co-MVPs. The victory was the tenth straight for Xavier, which improves its record to 24-4 including 12-1 in the the A-10. In addition, the win marks the most wins in a regular season by an XU team. The Flyers (17-9, 5-8) have now lost eight of their last 11 games and have fallen to third to last in the conference standings.
Duncan's team-high 14 points came on 3-of-6 shooting from the field including 1-of-4 from behind the 3-point arc. In addition, Duncan was money from the foul line, hitting 7-of-8. The senior from Moeller High School was limited to just 21 minutes of action due to foul trouble. Duncan picked up his fourth foul with 9:54 left in the second half, which put him on the bench for several minutes. However, when Duncan returned he was able to avoid fouling out while making his presence felt in the lane.
Xavier struggled on the offensive end for much of the game. The team was out of sync at times and turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 17 times. XU did manage to shoot the ball well making 48.6% of its attempts (18-of-37).
The two keys in Xavier's victory were excellent free throw shooting and high pressure defense for 40 minutes.
As a team, the Musketeers excelled at the free throw line, converting 17-of-22 for 77.3 percent. Dayton, on the other hand, struggled at the charity stripe as it hit just 8-of-14 shots for 57.1 percent.
On the defensive side of the ball, Xavier was able to limit the known - Brian Roberts. Roberts came into the game averaging 19.4 ppg. Burrell was glued to Roberts all afternoon, holding Roberts to just 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
In the previous meeting of the two teams earlier this season in January at Cintas Center, Burrell limited Roberts to just five points. As a team, Xavier held the flyers to 20-of-53 from the field for just 37.7 percent.
Other key contributers for the Muskies were Drew Lavender (9 points, 3 rebounds), Derrick Brown (7 points, 9 rebounds), C.J. Anderson (6 points, 5 rebounds), and Jason Love (8 points, 4 rebounds).
Lavender, who continues to battle an ankle injury, was forced into perhaps more action (33 minutes) than the coaching staff would have liked. Though he was not close to himself, his steady performance, solid ballhandling, and clutch free throws were a difference maker.
Freshman Dante Jackson provided eight minutes of solid play at the guard position off the bench, finishing with four points and making his mark with a few key defensive hustle plays.
Love, Brown, and Anderson all played big minutes and scored much needed baskets in the paint for Xavier.
For the second straight year, Xavier finishes play in February with an unblemished record. This season, X breezed through February with a perfect 7-0 record.
The Musketeers will have a week off to rest and heal before returning to the hardwood on Saturday, March 1 to take on the George Washington Colonials. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Cintas Center.
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