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Colonials Take Musketeers to the Wire
11/18/2012
After steamrolling Fairleigh Dickinson and then thumping Butler on national television, Xavier looked ready to move to 3-0 over the Colonials from Robert Morris. Instead, RMU gave the Musketeers everything they could handle and more.
The Colonials buried their first 5 threes and hit 9 for the game, keeping the score close all day. Velton Jones and Karvel Anderson scored 15 and 17 respectively to push the Musketeers to the brink.
And if it weren't for Brad Redford, who had an awful day, missing all 5 of his threes, Xavier would have fallen on Saturday. Instead, they prevailed with a pair of Redford free throws with 37 seconds to go to win 61-59.
“I was frustrated with the way I was able to shoot the ball, but you’ve got to move on to the next play. It was a tight game and I just wanted to do anything to help my team win,” said Redford.
Justin Martin had his best day as a Musketeer, burying 4 of 6 threes and leading the team with 17 points. Martin also had some very nice drives to the basket and played pretty nice defense, too. Martin also tallied a game high 37 minutes.
Dee Davis and Semaj Christon both scored in double digits, but they had 5 turnovers each, as the Musketeers turned it over 15 times for the game, a season high. The mistakes piled up over the game, but Robert Morris rarely capitalized. And Xavier finally got a handle on the ball when it mattered most, not turning the ball over in the final 4:06.
Davis finished with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting, but he played his worst game of the season at times. The offense struggled to get into a rhythm and lacked good ball movement at time.
“I just think we were moving too fast on offense. We weren’t taking our time like we practiced. We’ve just got to get better at it," said Davis.
Christon finished with 12 points and 6 assists, producing several nice drives to basket. While he was in the game, he also played tremendous defense on Jones. His length was key to slowing Jones early in the game. When Christon cramped up at the end of the game, Jones went off on Davis.
It was a struggle down low for the Musketeers all game long, though. Jeff Robinson finished with only 7 points, and shot the ball just three times from the floor. He did have a couple of big blocks, however. Travis Taylor had 8 points and 7 rebounds, but came up with a couple of nice moves around the hoop.
The Musketeers defense didn't play poorly in the first half, holding the Colonials to 37.9% shooting. RMU was able to stay in the game by drilling threes. In the second half, the Musketeers clamped down and the shots stopped falling. The Colonials made just 3 of 15 from three in the second half.
“They play with a lot of toughness, whether they have two guards on a guy like Travis Taylor in the post. That’s just the way they play. We knew that going in but it’s another thing to experience it. Give Robert Morris a lot of credit for really neutralizing our bigs inside," said Coach Mack.
After tying the game at 59 on a Velton Jones layup, Brad Redford got the ball in the corner. He pulled the ball down and was fouled before he could attempt a shot. That sent him to the line, where he made both of his shots for his only two points of the day. And after some questionable calls down the stretch and a buzzer beating three went awry, the Musketeers survived.
It was obvious they were going to be tested, though. A veteran team, the Colonials gave Xavier everything it could handle and more. Robert Morris tested Xavier's depth, as the Musketeers only gave 7 players minutes, with only 6 scoring. That could be an issue going forward, although Isaiah Philmore is eligible to play next week.
Regardless, the Musketeers survived and remain undefeated on the season. Few thought that would be how the season would start, even just three games in. Next up, the Musketeers take on Pacific as part of the DIRECTV Classic in Anaheim.
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