Feb. 10, 2008

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CINCINNATI - Senior guard Stanley Burrell scored a team-high 16 points to lead four Xavier players in double-figure scoring as the No. 13/14 Musketeers defeated Saint Joseph's, 76-72, on Saturday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd of 10,250 at Cintas Center. Xavier moves to 20-4 overall including an 8-1 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference play while SJU drops to 15-7 on the season and 6-3 in A-10 action.

 

After trailing for the majority of the second half, junior guard B.J. Raymond connected on the game-winning trey from the left wing off an assist from Drew Lavender to put the Musketeers ahead 74-72 with 45 seconds left on the game clock.

 

Saint Joseph's was unable to get a shot off on its next possession as Burrell stole the ball from the Hawks' Darrin Govens and the XU junior iced the game with a pair of free throws for a 76-72 win.

 

Burrell's 16 points came on 4-of-7 from the field including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Also in double figure scoring for XU was Josh Duncan with 13 points on 5-of-8 from the floor, Lavender added 12 points to go along with four assists and Raymond completed the group with 11 points on the strength of 3-of-5 from long distance.

 

Duncan's 13 points pushed his career total to 1,007 and makes him the 45^th member of XU's 1,000-point club.

 

Xavier shot 56.5 percent (26-46) from the field including a stellar 12-of-20 (.600) from 3-point range.  Sophomore Jason Love pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Musketeers on the boards.

 

Rob Ferguson led three SJU players in double-figure scoring with 18 points on 7-of-9 from the floor including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Pat Calathes added 16 points while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and Tasheed Carr chipped in with 10 points.

 

Saint Joe's was 26-of-56 (.464) from the floor for the game and was 8-of-20 (.400) from beyond the arc. SJU won the battle of the boards with a 31-to-24 advantage including a 14-to-5 edge on the offensive glass.  

 

Saint Joseph's opened the second half with a 14-2 run over the first 3:55 to gain a 46-43 advantage and then pushed the lead to seven at 53-46 with 12:59 to go while limiting the Musketeers to just one field goal over the opening 4:33 of the second half after trailing by nine at intermission.

 

Xavier forged out to an early 11-7 lead with 14:53 remaining in the first half including a coast-to-coast layup from Brown, but the Hawks responded with a 10-2 run over the next 3:24 to take their first lead of the game at 17-13.

 

The Musketeers charged back to retake the lead at 26-19 with a 13-2 spurt over the next 3:50. XU took its largest lead of the game at 39-25 with 2:37, but SJU made three-straight field goals to cut the Musketeer lead to 39-32 with 53 seconds remaining in the half. Xavier was able to strike last as C.J. Anderson drove the lane and connected on a jumper with time running down to take a 41-32 lead into the locker rooms.

 

XU will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 13, when the Musketeers travel to Charlotte to take on the 49ers. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Halton Arena.