Feb. 2, 2008

Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

CINCINNATI - Xavier's C.J. Anderson led a balanced Musketeer attack as six players scored in double figures to lead XU past visiting La Salle, 75-62, on Saturday night at Cintas Center. No. 15 Xavier (18-4, 6-1 A-10) held La Salle (8-12, 3-4 A-10), the top three-point shooting team in the league, to 29.4 percent from deep.

The Musketeers had six players in double figures as C.J. Anderson led the way with 16 points and seven boards. Josh Duncan (12), Brown (11), Stanley Burrell (11), Lavender (10) and Jason Love (10) led a balanced attack. XU is now 15-0 when four or more players score in double figures.

Senior Stanley Burrell and the rest of the Xavier defense held the top three-point shooter in the league in La Salle's Darnell Harris to no three pointers in the game and just four points. It was the first time since Feb. 4, 2007 at Temple that Harris did not connect from deep.

With 2:10 remaining in the game, Drew Lavender took a rebound and turned it into an old-fashioned three-point play, dishing to Derrick Brown who capitalized and gave Xavier a 10-point lead and sealed the victory.

The Explorers would strike first to start the second half but an 11-3 run over 3:33 would give XU its largest lead of the game at 13 with 15:06 left. La Salle would continue to chip away at the Xavier advantage and mounted a 9-2 run over 2:45 to trim the XU lead to 59-55 with 8:03 left in the half.

Xavier opened the first half with Lavender dishing off an assist for a one-handed slam by Brown. The Musketeers would knock down their first three shots of the game and open a quick 9-7 lead with 16:16 remaining in the half. XU shared the ball well collecting six assists on its first six baskets.

After holding the visitors without a rebound for the first 6:39 in the opening half, La Salle would tighten the defense and hold XU to 3-for-8 from the field to help the Explorers take a four point lead with 11:06 left in the half.

Following La Salle's brief lead, the Musketeers mounted a 17-4 run over the next 6:56 to claim their largest lead of the half. The lead came with 4:02 remaining as C.J. Anderson dropped in a pass from Brown to give XU a 33-24 lead. The Musketeers would close out the half 4-for-4 from the free throw line to keep the lead at seven, 37-30, entering the break.

Xavier hits the road for its next contest and will travel to Saint Louis on Thursday, February 7 for a 9:00 pm tip against the Billikens. SLU will enter the game on a positive note after downing UMass on Saturday afternoon, 71-59. The game can be seen on ESPN2.