Xavier continues to rise in the polls, and has now broken the school record for wins in a season. The 66-56 victory for the Musketeers over George Washington marked the team’s 25th win of the season, and their 11th straight win.
The Musketeers never trailed in the game, but almost blew an 18-point first-half lead late in the contest. Their 16-for-29 effort from the free-throw line allowed the Colonials to get back into it. This had been a trademark for the team the entire season, but it did not cost them the game as the Colonials were unable to get any closer than one point. Xavier was led by Jason Love’s double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, and C.J. Anderson’s team-high 15 points.
The Colonials had been riding a three-game win streak heading into the contest. The loss drops them into a tie with Fordham for the 12th seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings, and a tie for the last spot in the conference tournament.
Junior forward Rob Diggs and his game-high 19 points led the way for the Colonials along with sophomore Johnny Lee’s career-high 14 points. George Washington has two more games before the tournament, both of which it must win if it wants to claim the last spot; Thursday at Charlotte, and Saturday against UMass.
Dunston pads lead
Fordham’s senior forward Bryant Dunston added to his conference lead with his 14th double-double of the season, and his 39th time in his career on Saturday. It came in a 57-50 loss to Dayton.
Besides Dunston, the Rams got little help elsewhere, their only other player scoring in double figures was Brenton Butler, as the team never led and got outrebounded, 32-24. The Rams are tied with GW for the 12th seed but hold the tiebreaker, and will look to clinch the final seed in the A-10 tournament with wins at St. Bonaventure, and against Saint Joseph’s to close out the regular season.
Brian Roberts scored 12 points, while Kurt Huelsman and Charles Little each scored 11 in the winning effort to lead Dayton. The Flyers came out shooting well, and played consistent throughout leading to their 18th win of the season.
Bonnies nab first road win
En route to scoring a career-high 25 points, Tyler Relph shot 6-of-6 from behind the line and the Bonnies routed Saint Louis, 70-50, for their first win away from home this season.
A 16-3 run in the first half was enough to put the Bonnies up for good and put an end to a six-game losing streak, and 13-game road losing streak. Michael Lee added 16 points for the Bonnies, and D’Lancy Carter scored 12 to send the Billikens to a loss in their final home game of the season. It will be their last-ever home game in the Scottrade Center, as the Billikens will be opening a new arena next year. The win gives the Bonnies some upside to a disappointing season, as they have already been eliminated from the A-10 tournament.
In the losing effort, Kevin Lisch scored 19 points and got almost no help from anyone else as the team only shot 35 percent and got outrebounded, 31-21. Saint Louis travels to Duquesne on Saturday to end the regular season.
Conference awards
Dan Geriot of Richmond and Ricky Harris of UMass were awarded the A-10 Player of the Week Honors. It is Geriot’s first time winning the award and Harris’ second.
Geriot averaged 23.5 points per game in his two contests and grabbed 7.5 rebounds. He scored a career-high 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting against St. Bonaventure on Saturday while also grabbing 13 boards.
Harris averaged 19 points on 14-of-24 shooting this past week including 5-of-7 shooting from behind the line in the Minutemen’s two victories. He scored a game-high 24 points in Saturday’s win against Richmond.
Richmond’s Kevin Anderson won his league-leading fifth A-10 Rookie of the Week Honor, and third in a row. Anderson averaged 17.5 points per game and five assists per game as the Spiders went 1-1 on the week.
Sam Grossack can be reached at [email protected].
