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X Wins Fourth Straight A-10 Title
By
Jay Skeldon,
3/6/2010
 | | Coach Chris Mack raises the net to celebrate Xavier’s fourth consecutive A10 regular season title. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Senior Jason Love, the “winningest Musketeer”, waives to the crowd as he walks off the Cintas Center court for the last time. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | After winning a hard-fought offensive rebound, Jamel McLean finishes with authority. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | The A10’s leading scorer, Jordan Crawford, glides through the air to collect two of his game high 22 points. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Terrell Holloway pays the price for sticky defense as he gets leveled by a St. Bonnie pick. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | A happy band of Musketeers enjoys the post game celebration. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
The No. 25 Xavier men's basketball team had a lot to celebrate on Saturday afternoon. Prior to tipoff against St. Bonaventure, the team and fans honored its lone senior, Jason Love, in pre-game ceremonies, thanking him for his four years as a Musketeer which ranks atop the list of all time winningest players to ever don a Xavier uniform.
When the final buzzer had sounded, Love had added to that all-time win total as the X-Men defeated the Bonnies, 93-72, before 10,031 fans at Cintas Center. Jordan Crawford led all scorers with 22 points and four rebounds as XU improves to 23-7 overall.
With the victory, X finishes in a first place tie with Temple at 14-2 for the 2009-10 Atlantic 10 regular season championship, marking the Muskies' fourth straight league crown. The Bonnies, meanwhile, drop to 14-15 (7-9).
Despite the hoopla and pregame emotions surrounding the Senior Day festivities, the Musketeers did not let that derail their focus against St. Bonaventure. Xavier got down to business immediately from the tip. XU opened the game with a debillitating 14-2 run that was capped by two thunder dunks by junior Jamel McLean.
McLean turned in another large effort, recording 15 points and nine rebounds to pace the X-Men. He would be one of five Musketeers to finish with double digit scoring tallies on the afternoon.
Xavier's Dante Jackson extended the first half lead to 20 points with a 3-pointer as the team led 26-6 with 11:30 left. But, the Bonnies pieced together a 15-5 streak to pull within 10 at 33-23 with 4:22 remaining. Xavier built that lead back to 12 points at half, 44-32, as sophomore point guard Terrell Holloway drained a jumper as the clock expired before halftime.
In the second half, it was more of the same. Xavier's largest lead was 22 points, 68-46, with 11:29 left to play. That was enabled by a Kenny Frease dunk off a dish from Crawford on the break.
Despite the junk defense that the Bonnies threw at Xavier, the Muskies were able to make adjustments offensively and also control the interior.
The team shared the ball extremely well, recording 25 assists compared to just 10 turnovers. Holloway alone dished a 10 assists, which tied his season high set earlier this season against Fordham. The Muskies also forced SBU into 14 turnovers and converted those into 22 points.
Love and McLean anchored the post for XU, which led to a 40-30 advantage in the paint. The team also out-rebounded SBU, 37-31.
Joining McLean in double figures scoring was the senior Love, who finished his final game at Cintas Center with 14 points and nine boards. Other top performers included Dante Jackson (11 points), Mark Lyons (10 points, 3 assists), and Holloway (nine points).
Love exited the game for the final time with just over three minutes left to a standing ovation from the appreciative home crowd. In his four years in a Musketeer uniform, Love has won 105 games overall, an all-time record for an XU player. In addition, he has won an unprecedented four A-10 Regular Season Championships, including never losing a conference home game.
"Making history...there’s nothing like it. I can’t put into words how it feels to win a fourth straight conference title," said Love.
The Bonnies were led by 6-9 sophomore center Andrew Nicholson who scored 21 points in 36 minutes of action.
With the regular season wrapped up, the Musketeers secured the No. 2 seed of the 2010 A-10 Tournament which gets underway this week at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The X-Men play on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the No. 7 Dayton and No. 10 George Washington game. The game is set to be shown on CBS College Sports.
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