CINCINNATI – The Musketeers slip in overtime 66-64 to the Vanderbilt Commodores Thursday night at Cintas Center. Senior Travis Taylor finished with a team-high 15 points from 6-of-9 shooting from the field and pulled in four rebounds in 31 minutes of play.
The Musketeers are now 6-2 for the season while the Commodores improve to 3-4. Xavier suffered its first lose to Vanderbilt but currently hold a 5-1 all-time series record against the Commodores.
Four Musketeers finished with double figures with Taylor leading the way. Justin Martin ended with 13 points and dished out three assists. Martin shot 5-of-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. Freshman Semaj Christon netted 12 points and had a game-high five assists. Christon has tallied at least five dimes in six of the seven games he’s played this season.
Isaiah Philmore had his first Xavier double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Philmore’s total points and rebounds were both career-high at Xavier for him. Six of his rebounds were offensive, good enough of a season-high.
The Musketeers opened the second half with a 7-0 run to grab a 40-27 lead with 17:05 remaining in the second half. Taylor scored all seven points for the Musketeers while the defense created two turnovers and forced the Commodores to shoot 0-for-3 from the field.
Vanderbilt clawed back with a 10-0 run of its own to shrink the deficit to 43-40 with 11:40 left in the second half. During the run the Commodores knocked down a pair of threes and forced two Musketeer miscues. They eventually knotted up the score 47 all with 8:39 left in the second half.
From then on it was a back and forth game. With just 1:10 left to play the Musketeers and Commodores were all tied up at 54. Vanderbilt used a 5-0 run to get the contest all square. The Musketeers went scoreless for the last 5:21 of the game pushing the game into overtime.
Xavier held for the final possession but weren’t able to come away with a bucket. A missed three by Martin and a missed jumper by Davis resulted in the game to go into overtime for the first time this season and the first time since February 18, 2012 against Dayton.
Vanderbilt scored the first basket in overtime to get its first lead since 16:06 left in the first half when it held a 10-9 advantage. With 2:09 left in the first overtime the Commodores held a slim 59-58 lead.
Down 64-60, Brad Redford drains his second three-pointer of the game to bring the Musketeers back down one. The four point lead by the Commodores was the largest lead they held all game.
Clutch free throws by the Commodores sealed the victory and gave the Musketeers their first home loss of the season.
Xavier led Vanderbilt 33-27 going into intermission. The Musketeers were powered by Martin who finished the first half with a team-high 10 points from 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Christon played all 20 minutes and tallied eight points and three assists.
Xavier lead in second chance points 10-4 at halftime with the help of Philmore who had three offensive rebounds. The Musketeers out-rebounded the Commodores 16-10 in the first half.
The Musketeers found themselves down 10-9 with 15:23 left in the first half. The Commodores connected on their first four field goals while the Musketeers were 4-of-7 to begin the game.
Xavier used an 8-3 run to grab a 19-13 lead with 7:55 left in the first half. Martin grabbed the offensive rebound from his own missed free throw then put it in for the easy two points. During the run the Musketeers held the Commodores scoreless from the field as they shot 0-for-4.
Kyle Fuller of Vanderbilt had a game-high 25 points while Kevin Bright had the team’s double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Fuller had all 12 points for the Commodores in the overtime period.
Up next for the Musketeers is a home game against Kent State on December 9 at Cintas Center. Tip-off is set for 4:00 pm and can be seen on FS Ohio or heard on 700 WLW.
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