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Muskies Off to the Races in Defeating Rollins
By
Jay Skeldon,
11/3/2009
The Xavier Musketeers made their preseason debut on the hardwood in a fast and furious fashion on Tuesday night at Cintas Center. The deep, talented, and quick guards showed their stuff with slicing moves to the basket, crafty passes to teammates, and plenty of up-tempo, full court offense as the Muskies cruised past visiting Rollins College, 86-47. It was a balanced attack for XU as five Musketeers finished with double figures scoring. Jordan Crawford led all scorers with a game-high 16 points while adding six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Xavier opened the scoring in the first half as Terrell Holloway slipped past his defender for a lay-in on the right side with 18:23 left. The Musketeers would continue on to score the first ten points of the ball game. After Rollins scored its first basket, X reeled off a 12-5 run to extend its lead to 15 points with the score standing at 22-7 with 11:38 left.
Nick Wolf, from St. Xavier High School and brother of former XU guard Johnny Wolf, knocked in two of his 10 points for the game to pull the Tars within 10 points, 30-20, with 6:32 left in the first half. That was as close as RC would get for the rest of the game as Xavier slowly pulled away for a 39 point win.
The pace of play was notably more up-tempo in this game than in recent years for the Muskies. The team pushed the ball up court early and often with a sense of urgency, looking for openings and opportunities. That translated into an impress 25-0 advantage for the X-Men in fast break points for the game.
Crawford and XU redshirt freshman Mark Lyons, who sat out last season, made their long awaited debuts as Musketeers. Lyons came off the bench to score 12 points while dishing a game-high seven assists and pulling down five boards. Incorporated into several strong drives, Lyons exhibited an impressive array of moves including an underhanded scoop-in, 360 degree pass to the perimeter, and ball wrap around his waist as he slid by a defender towards the basket.
Xavier also received very strong efforts from its other guards. Junior Dante Jackson knocked in 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field including 2-of-3 3-pointers. Sophomore Terrell Holloway started at point guard and also turned in a solid performance with nine points.
The guards did a nice job creating opportunities for Xavier’s interior players who owned the paint against the undersized Tars. Senior Jason Love showed off his improved right hook at the post en route to 12 points to go along with four rebounds. Sophomore Kenny Frease was efficient, scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high nine boards in just 17 minutes of action. Junior Jamel McLean added six points and eight rebounds.
As a team, the Musketeers out-rebounded Rollins College, 42-29. In addition, Xavier outscored RC, 55-20, in the lane.
Rollins College was led by Myk Brown who scored 16 points.
Xavier will get back at it on Saturday evening, November 7 against the Northern Kentucky Norse in the team’s second and final exhibition game. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Cintas Center.
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