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XU Slips Past La Salle in A-10 Conference Opener
By
Jay Skeldon,
1/7/2010
Despite losing a 20-point second half lead, Xavier leaves Philadelphia with its mission accomplished and its first win of the season in the Atlantic 10 conference action. The Musketeers knocked off La Salle, 68-62, before 2,041 fans at Tom Gola Arena in yet another game that was decided in the final minutes. Jordan Crawford led all scorers with 22 points including a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Crawford also added six rebounds and four assists, as the X-Men improve its record to 9-5 on the season (1-0 A-10). The Explorers, meanwhile, drop to 7-7 overall.
After La Salle grabbed the early lead in the first half, Xavier jumped ahead, 5-4, for the first time on a Dante Jackson 3-pointer with 18:05 left. XU would hold the lead for the next six minutes until La Salle tied the game at 11 with 12:39 to go.
Xavier then surged offensively with a 27-12 run to finish out the first half. That gave the Musketeers a comfortable 41-26 buffer at intermission.
In the second half, that lead was extended to 20 points on a dunk by Jason Love, who was playing before several friends and family in his hometown of Philly. That moved the score to 54-34 with 13:10 left in the game. It appeared that Xavier was headed for an impressive and comfortable first conference win on the road.
The Explorers would not go down easy, though. La Salle rattled off an 18-2 run over the course of the next eight minutes, capped by a Rodney Green lay-in to tie the game at 56 with 4:04 left.
Xavier then went back ahead on two Crawford free throws, only to have La Salle tie the game at two additional points. Then Xavier's Dante Jackson knocked in a critical 3-pointer to give Xavier a three point lead and eventually the win. The Musketeers closed out the game with strong defense and solid free throw shooting.
Joining Crawford in double-digit scoring was Love, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Jackson contributed nine points, all of which came on 3-point field goals, along with four assists.
La Salle was led by Rodney Green (20 points), Kimmani Barrett (11 points), and Yves Mekongo (10 points).
Next up for Xavier is the final game of a three game road swing as the Musketeers travel to the nation's capital this weekend. X will face off against George Washington on Sunday at Noon. The game is set to be televised on Fox Sports Net Ohio.
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