Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
The men’s basketball team opened its much anticipated 2006-07 season with a 79-46 win over the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers last Saturday night at Cintas Center.
Junior guard Stanley Burrell led the Musketeers’ scoring attack with a game-high 19 points off 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Xavier also welcomed junior forward Josh Duncan back to the court for the first time since he has been sidelined with back spasms during the off-season. Duncan finished with nine points, five rebounds and a block in limited playing time.
The Musketeers started slowly, as they did in their two pre-season games, trailing 22-17 with just under seven minutes left in the first half. Xavier finally turned it on though, finishing with a 21-4 run to take a 38-24 lead into halftime.
Xavier’s offense continued to bear down on Coastal Carolina through the second half as the Musketeers opened up a 22 point lead.
Xavier finished the game on a 12-1 run that featured a freakishly athletic alley-oop tomahawk dunk by freshman Derrick Brown off a a pass by sophomore guard Johnny Wolf. “I was just trying to catch it,” said Brown of the high pass.
Xavier played fairly stingy defense, holding the Chanticleers to just 35 percent shooting from the field. The 46 points scored by Coastal Carolina were the fewest by a Xavier opponent since the 35 scored by Eastern Illinois in last season’s opener.
The Musketeers shut down Big South Conference player of the year Jack Leasure, who averaged nearly 18 points per game last year, holding him to a career low-tying four points. This game also marked just the third time in 60 NCAA games that Leasure, who made the second most threes in the country last year, failed to hit a shot from behind the arc.
The biggest improvement for Xavier, though, came off the glass. The Musketeers dominated the boards, out-rebounding Coastal Carolina 40-28 on the night.
This stands in stark contrast to their rebounding performance in the pre-season, when they tied Northern Kentucky with 36 rebounds and allowed 17 offensive boards. Xavier crashed the defensive glass against Coastal Carolina though, leading the Chanticleers 26-17 in defensive rebounds.
Next for the Musketeers is the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands this weekend. Xavier will play the Virginia Commonwealth Rams in the opening round and will play College of Charleston or Villanova in the second round. Tip-off with the Rams is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.
Nick DiFrancesco
Contributing Sportswriter
The lady Musketeers got their season off to a good start, easily defeating the Florida Gators 86-70 on Sunday at Cintas Center. Senior guard Suntana Granderson led the way, leading all scorers with 19 points off 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
The Musketeers also had four other players reach the 15 point plateau: senior guards Miranda Green and Michele Miller, senior forward Joei Clyburn and freshman forward Amber Harris.
XU stormed out of the gate and dominated the Gators, taking a 47-25 halftime advantage to the locker room.
The Gators came out after halftime playing an inspired full-court defense that caused careless turnovers and allowed Florida to get back in the game with a 16-6 run with 14:10 remaining.
But the Musketeers answered right back, going on a 9-0 run to push the lead back to 18 by the 11:50 mark.
The rest of the game saw XU adjust to the full court pressure accordingly, and turn up their own heat defensively to close out the victory.
The win was fueled by strong defense and aggressive rebounding, two things the coaches have been stressing all season. Xavier held Florida to 36.7 percent shooting from the field and out-rebounded them 45-37.
The Musketeers shot 45.6 percent from the field, and featured a balanced offensive attack. Aside from senior center DeAnna Mason, who plays primarily in the post, every other player was seemingly able to get to the basket anytime they wanted, either scoring themselves or kicking it out when the defense collapsed.
Throughout the game, Xavier was able to find open shooters on the perimeter, allowing them to connect on seven treys.
This weekend, XU will host the National City Xavier Invitational at Cintas Center. They will take on Western Carolina at 6 p.m. on Friday, and will face Toledo or Loyola Marymount on Saturday. afternoon.
A Real Football Perspective from a Real Football Player
Jimmy Byrnes
Asst. Sports Editor
I am the quarterback for the Xavier club football team, and I would like to take you inside the huddle and into my thoughts. I am going to talk about what I saw, said and did in the game against Wilimington College that we played on Nov. 4. Unfortunately, we lost the game 13-7 in overtime.
We are a pass heavy team. The receivers, mainly freshman Josh Canafax and senior Mike Thallemer, and I would use hand signals to get into better plays for what the defense was going to do against us. On a number of occasions against Wilmington, we put those hand signals to good use.
On one third down play, Thallemer told me to be ready to change it up. We checked to a “quick” and got the first down. Another time, Thallemer and I checked and were able to gain about 18 yards on a “seam” route up the middle.
Now for a game-breaking situation: Fourth quarter, we are tied at seven with Wilmington. I get the play from Coach Powers and jog to the huddle. “Okay, boys…This is everyone’s dream. Let’s win this game. We’re going with spread gun 301 Indiana slants. Ready…Break!”
I knew what was coming, though; Wilmington had been doing it all game. Number 41 was going to come untouched off the right edge and hit me just as I threw the pass. He did.
Incomplete, fourth down. Coach sends in the play and I talk to the huddle. “We need to get a first down here, boys. Someone try and hit that guy; just give me a split second longer. We’re going back the 301 Indiana slants from the gun. Ready…Break!”
As I walk to the line, Canafax tells me that he is running a post-corner route, and I see the blitz coming from the right edge. I think to myself, “Don’t worry about that…Complete the pass.” I catch the snap from the center, take one look at the receiver who is slanting across the right side (which the blitzing linebacker has vacated) and throw. Complete! First down at the 30.
“Nice job, guys…nice job. We need to punch it in here. Coach wants the same play. On one. Let’s go. Ready…Break!”
I check the clock. Again I notice the blitz. I get the snap and throw to a spot…Complete again to Thallemer. Tick, tick, tick.
Unable to move the ball any further, we turned the ball over and the defense holds. Overtime.
In overtime, we missed a field goal and Wilmington scored a touchdown to end the game.
That’s your exclusive look inside the huddle.
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
Men’s basketball head coach Sean Miller has received signed National Letters of Intent from two highly rated players, the Athletic Department announced last week.
Charles Bronson, a 6-9, 240-pound center from Philadelphia, and Dante Jackson, a 6-5, 195-pound guard from Greenfield, Ohio, have both committed to playing for the Musketeers next season.
Bronson, a prep school standout at Philadelphia Lutheran High School, comes to Xavier by way of two community colleges.
Bronson signed to play for Xavier in the fall of 2005, but instead chose to enroll at Redland Community College in el Reno, Oklahoma.
Jackson averaged 28.4 points per game as a junior last year for Greenfield McLain High School in Greenfield, Ohio, and is ranked 81st in the 2007 recruiting class by rivals.com.
Nick DiFrancesco
Contributing Writer
#1 vs. #2 – Believe it or not, these two teams have never met as No.1 vs. No.2 before in their storied history. Twice they have met as undefeated’s, but never as the top two teams in the polls. This will be OSU’s second 1-2 game this season, as they defeated then-No. 2 Texas 24-7 on September 9th.
7.8 – The Buckeyes have yielded an average of 7.8 points per game, the best in the nation.
29.9 – The Wolverines have given up an average of 29.9 yards rushing per game, also good for best in the nation.
68 – These teams have combined for 68 sacks this year, so look for their to be lots of pressure on the quarterbacks.
26:4 – Troy Smith’s TD to INT ratio for the year is at 26 to 4. The Wolverines should consider any picks as early Christmas presents.
1 – The number of rushing TDs Michigan has allowed in their last 20 quarters.
0 – The number of points off turnovers that the OSU defense has given up this year.
4-1 – OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel’s record against Michigan.
1897 – The year of the first OSU vs. Michigan matchup.
24-24-2– Michigan’s lead in the all time series may be 57-39-6. However, their record the last 50 years has been 24-24-2. Needless to say, it’s been pretty even since the 50’s.
and finally…..
60 – Number of arrests following “The Game” in Columbus in 2002. Columbus will not be a safe place to be driving through on Saturday if your vehicle has Michigan tags.
John LaFollette 
Sports Editor
The Xavier University volleyball team closed out its regular season on Nov. 11 with a win against the Dukes of Duquesne University.
The win gave the team a regular season record of 17 wins and 11 losses, good enough for a fourth seed in the 25th annual Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship tournament.
The tournament this year is being held at the Fredericks Center on the campus of the University of Dayton. This season marks the first time since 1994 that the A-10 will have six teams competing for the championship.
The top six teams in the conference (Fordham, Temple, Dayton, Saint Louis, Charlotte and Xavier) will begin the tournament at 5 p.m. on Nov. 17 when third-seeded Saint Louis takes on sixth-seeded Fordham.
Following that match will be the fourth-seeded Muskies against the fifth-seeded 49ers from Charlotte.
Dayton, who has earned the number one seed, will play the lowest remaining seeded team; Temple will take on the highest remaining seeded team for the semifinal matchups.
The winner of the A-10 championship will receive an automatic bid into the 2006 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Xavier University swimmers were in action on Nov. 10 in a meet at IUPUI. The women were able to defeat IUPUI and Evansville, but were unable to surpass Wisconsin-Green Bay on the score board.
Meanwhile, the men were only able to muster a win against Evansville, falling short against both IUPUI and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
For the women, senior Krystel Kooyman turned in a dominating performance, finishing first in the 100 back, 200 breast and the 200 IM, which were the only three events she entered.
Freshman Martha Cutter-Wilson had a solid meet for the women, turning in finishes of third in the 100 back and second (to Kooyman) in the 200 breast.
The men were led by junior Nico Lilly who recorded a first place finish in the 200 fly, and senior Dave Janszen who took first in the 200 IM with a team season best time of 1:59.
Junior Matt Krouse won the 100 free with a time of 48 seconds.
