CINCINNATI – The Xavier Musketeers pulled away with a 61-59 victory over Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at Cintas Center. Sophomore Justin Martin led the charge with a career-high 17 points from 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
Xavier concluded its home stand with a perfect 3-0 record while Robert Morris drops to 1-3 for the season. The Musketeers now lead the all-time series 4-0. Robert Morris will begin the 2012 NIT Season Tip-Off Monday, as it faces off against Bowling Green State University.
Martin made 4-of-6 three point shots and pulled in four rebounds in the process. Martin set a new career-high in points, field goals made, and three-pointers made. Sophomore Dee Davis had 15 points, three assists, and one steal in the contest.
Semaj Christon dropped a career-high 12 points off of 4-of-7 shooting from the field and had six assists in 30 minutes of play. Christon is averaging 7.0 assists per game while Davis is averaging 6.7 assists per game.Travis Taylor had a game-high seven rebounds and had one of Xavier’s three blocks for the game.
With 7.7 second remaining the Colonials inbound the ball from their own baseline. Davis strongly guarded Velton Davis, who ended up missing an off-balance lay-up. The shot was gathered by Coron Williams, who wasn’t able to get his desperation shot off on time.
Xavier was holding onto a 53-52 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the second half. RMU used a 5-0 run to close the gap and get into striking distance of the Musketeers.
RMU tied up the game 57 all with 3:49 remaining in the second half only to lose the lead on the Musketeers’ next possession. Robinson dropped a jumper from the right key to gain the lead for XU. There were six ties in the game and eight lead changes.
The Musketeers went on a 7-0 run to give them a 43-35 lead early in the second half, the run lasted for 1:54. During the stretch XU forced three turnovers. The run was capped by an explosive Robinson dunk from the left block.
At half Xavier had a 36-31 lead over Robert Morris. Martin led all scorers in the first half with 11 points. Martin was nearly perfect in shooting from the field as he fired 4-for-5 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from long range.
Christon made his first collegiate start and scored eight points and led with three assists at halftime. Taylor had six points, four boards, and one block at half time, while Jeff Robinson grabbed three rebounds and swatted two shots.
The Musketeers outshot the Colonials in the first half 65.0 percent (11-for-15) to 39.1 percent (9-for-23) from the field. RMU outshot XU 66.7 percent (6-for-9) to 50 percent (4-for-8) from long range in the first 20 minutes of play.
Both teams were hot to start the game as they connected on all six three-point attempts. XU was 2-for-2 from the long range while RMU was a perfect 4-for-4. The Colonials held a 14-12 edge over the Musketeers with 14:50 remaining in the first half.
Midway through the first half the Musketeers went on a 9-0 run stretching for 4:00 giving XU a 26-19 lead with 8:31 left in the first half. During the run, Martin eclipsed the double-digit point mark after firing off a three-pointer in the left wing.
The Colonials were able to go on a 7-2 run toward the end of the first half to cut the lead down to 33-30 with 1:00. A scramble for the ball on Robert Morris’ side was recovered by the Musketeers then kicked out to Davis who hit an open three with: 01 left in the first half.
Karvel Anderson of Robert Morris led the Colonials off the bench with 17 points, including 3-of-8 from deep.
The Musketeers travel to Anaheim for the DirecTV Classic Thursday, November 22 to battle Pacific. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm on ESPNU. The next home game for Xavier will be December 6 against Vanderbilt. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com for the latest news and updates of men’s basketball.
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