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Muskies Club Colonials 71-56!!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/13/2013
Xavier fought through another spate of adversity dominating George Washington 71-56 at Cintas Saturday afternoon. XU is now 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic 10-tied for the early conference lead with Butler,VCU and Charlotte.
 | | "Count it!"[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Semaj Christon scores two of his 21 points on a break-away.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Travis Taylor helps Brad Redford keep track of his made 3 pointers.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Jeff Robinson gets a monster dunk.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Semaj Christon, Brad Redford, Jeff Robinson and Travis Taylor enjoying the post-game press conference.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
GW arrived on a mini roll after burying St Bonnies in their A-10 opener. Point guard Dee Davis sat out with a wrist sprain. Justin Martin was limited to 12 minutes because of foul trouble. XU played the final two minutes of the first half without PG Semaj Christon (2 fouls) and added to their lead with Brad Redford and Landon Amos at guard.
Redford had a career game (so far) making 7 of 8 three point tries for 21 points in 35 productive minutes. The XU single game record by the way is 9 three's (Romain Sato vs URI in 2003). Sato also made 8 three's against Rhode Island in 2001. Brad carved up the GW zone in the second half burying 4 bombs as his teammates found him repeatedly. His comfort level at lead guard is increasing too with experience.
Christon totaled 21 points on 9-13 shooting with 7 assists mixing mid-range pull-ups with driving lay-ups and a key 3 pointer despite being the focus of the GW defense. Jeff Robinson started his second straight game and chipped in 14 points (6-9 FG) plus 6 rebounds. His hustling floor game and defense were solid also in 31 minutes.
GW targeted Travis Taylor on the block. He responded by dishing out 6 assists and grabbing 11 rebounds-not forcing shots inside. Taylor was a key in cracking GW's 1-3-1 half court trapping defense. Landon Amos played a career high 21 minutes. If he could find a way to score, he would be downright dangerous.
Xavier is fashioning a winning formula mixing stingy defense (54PPG in 2 league wins) with strong rebounding and efficient offense. Free throws continue to be an adventure, but 2 point FGs are going down at about 60% and the 3 was an XU asset against GW (8-10). Specifically on defense vs GW the Muskies throttled star forward Isiah Armwood (just 6 points on only 3 shots with 6 rebounds and 3 turnovers) and frosh phenom Patrico Garrido(3-14FG).
Can XU win with this formula on the road? We'll find out Wednesday nite when the Muskies play St Bonnies in Olean (8PM-CBS Sports Network). The Bonnies(7-8)are desperate with a 5 game losing streak including A-10 loses at GW and home to VCU. SBU is 5-2 at home though.
Around the Atlantic 10: Butler began play in their new conference with road wins at St Joe's and at Dayton. The Bulldogs used their depth to hold off the Flyers 79-73 at UD Arena. Rotnei Clark was driven into the basket support on a nasty careless foul from behind by UD's Matt Derenbecker. Clark did not play in the second half but BU prevailed by sharing the ball and shooting 58%. Dayton is 0-2. UMass is without shooting guard Jessie Morgan (13PPG). The Minutemen won a close one at Fordham without him. Fordham has 6-10 Soph Ryan Canty to help Chris Gaston inside.
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