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Muskies Execute Well at St Bonnies!!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/17/2013
Xavier answered the question "Can they take their winning formula on the road and be successful?" with a resounding "YES" Wednesday nite edging St Bonaventure 66-64 at Olean. In the process,the Muskies stayed tied with Charlotte and Butler for the early Atlantic 10 lead at 3-0.
VCU (2-0) hosts St Joe's(1-1) in Richmond late Thursday evening. XU played for a second straight full game without PG Dee Davis. Dee sprained his left wrist early in the A-10 opener against Temple. He may be available Saturday at Cintas vs LaSalle(2PM-Fox Sports Ohio).
The Muskies trotted out the stingy pacline defense and mixed in ample zone looks avoiding any hint of foul trouble which can scuttle the most cerebral game plan. They won the rebound battle decisevly(33-23). SBU shot 52%FG but Xavier's huge edge on the offensive board(16-5) led directly to the Muskies triggering 57 shots to Bonnies' very low total of 44. X limited SBU's best player Demetrious Conger to 11 points on just 6 shots and only 2 FT attempts.
Offensively, X ran the offense efficiently(a mere 6 turnovers) and kept the tempo very halfcourt. Staring guards Semaj Christon and Brad Redford played 36 minutes each. Redford did not turn the ball over while splitting the lead guard duties. He scored 17-making 5 3 pointers. Redford's A-10 line is impressive-31 minutes/G-15.6 points-63% from 3 point range-with 3 total turnovers.
Semaj scored 19 with 10 assists. He was the Xavier offense down the stretch-canning FTs(7-9) and scoring at will on post-ups and dribble drives. His final tear drop fade away bank shot with 4.8 seconds left was killer.
Bonnies had one last chance to tie or win. Guard Charloon Kloof dribbled the length of the floor but his lay-up attempt was blocked out of bounds at the buzzer by Landen Amos. CBS Sports Network play-by-play man Don Criqui apparently forgot to put walk-on Amos on his game sheet. Landen played 16 minutes-delivered his usual nasty defense but never was mentioned by the announcers.
There were no passengers for Xavier. Travis Taylor scored 11(5-6FG)-shagged 7 rebounds and helped defend Conger. Justin Martin scored 7 with 3 boards and 2 assists. He went just 1-6 from three but the shots he took were good ones and they should start going in for him soon like before the Vandy injury.
Jeff Robinson wasn't specactular(4p-2R) but he stayed focused and didn't make glaring mistakes. Isiah Philmore played well off the bench(6P-5R in 20 minutes) and Eric Stenger supplied energy-a dunk and 2 timely offensive rebounds.
Xavier seemed in control almost all the way. SBU took a brief 5 point lead with about 6 minutes left but X quickly reeled them in and executed well at the end.
Xavier's trip home from Western NY State wasn't too smooth. The Muskies were forced to bus 100 miles west after the game to pick up their charter flight in Erie,Pa because Bradford,PA 20 miles from Olean had no de-icing equipment. The team arrived in Erie at about 2am but could not board their plane. They grabbed a hotel and bussed 6 hours back to Cincinnati on Thursday.
La Salle beat Dayton 72-70 Wednesday nite in Philly. The Explorers are 2-1 in the A-10 with a loss at Charlotte and home victories over Richmond and UD. LU is 12-4 overall and 4-3 on the road. Their best wins are over Villanova and Iona plus the two in conference. Their losses are to Central Conn. State,at Bucknell,at Miami(Fla)-Shane Larkin and at Charlotte.
Last season La Salle finished 21-13 with a quick exit from the A-10 tourney and a first round NIT loss to Minnesota. The Explorers beat Xavier handily 80-70 in Philly in last season's conference opener. The Muskies were in the post brawl funk and played poorly with a ton of turnovers. LU took and made a bunch of open threes and XU was never in the game.
Almost everybody returns for LaSalle except for small forward Earl Pettis a strong all-court player. Dr John Giannini plays a lite cavalry style with 4 guards on the floor frequently. And the guards are talented. PG Tyrek Duren is all round good(15PPG-over 1,000 career points as a junior.
Ramon Galloway is a lanky wing and South Carolina transfer(17PPG-43% from 3). He's a league MVP candidate. Sam Mills is a solid guard and 35 minute man. The new talent is Virginia Tech transfer Tyrone Garland-one of the top scorers in Philadelphia HS history. He's wild with the dred locks and head band and he averages 14PPG in 25 minutes.
Inside players include 6-11 Steve Zack(7P-7R-2BLKS) and Jerrell Wright(11P-7R). LaSalle is outrebounded by over 2/game.They force a bunch of turnovers(24 vs Dayton) and shoot 20 3s/game. They average 73PPG and give up 66. The Muskies' marching orders are clear.
Keep the game halfcourt. Avoid a dunkfest created by La Salle guard pressure and pound the ball inside and play volleyball on the glass.
My friend and co-worker Tom Carns is looking to fund the foundation that bears his wife Karen's name. Tom and staff help kids who have lost a parent continue to attend Catholic grade and secondary schools. Their grants approached $250,000 last year. XU has supplied Tom with tickets to the Xavier-Dayton game Wednesday Jan.30th at Cintas. He's packaging the tickets with a pre-game reception and free parking for $100 per.
Contact Tom at tcarns83@gmail.com or call(513)-509-5706.
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