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of Xavier University
Xavier snaps GW streak
Muskeeteers cruise past Colonials, reclaim conference lead
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
With the outcome of their highly anticipated season in jeopardy, the Xavier men’s basketball team responded admirably with a pair of decisive wins, beating Saint Louis 76-57 last Wednesday at Cintas Center and George Washington 87-58 last Saturday in Washington, D.C.
Playing balanced, textbook basketball, the Musketeers have won their last three games by margins of 34, 19 and 29 points, respectively, and have moved into a tie for the Atlantic 10 lead.
In what had shaped up to be one of the more difficult road contests of Xavier’s conference schedule, the Musketeers traveled to the nation’s capital and dealt the Colonials an embarrassing home loss.
The win ended George Washington’s 24-game home winning streak, which was the fifth longest in the country.
Senior leadership was the theme once again for the Musketeers as senior forwards Justin Cage and Brandon Cole combined for 30 points and 11 rebounds. Cage also had three steals and one blocked shot.
Junior guards Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell chipped in another 32 points and nine assists between them and committed just two turnovers.
Xavier also welcomed back junior forward Josh Duncan, who had missed the last four games with a nasty ankle sprain. Duncan saw limited action in his return and racked up six points in 10 minutes off the bench.
Cole has played exceptionally well in his five starts as Duncan’s replacement, averaging 10.2 points and 7.8 rebounds during that stretch.
Cole has filled his role admirably, drawing shooting fouls, making the subsequent free throws and occupying a large part of the defensive lane.
This team now finds itself poised to achieve both its expectations from Xavier Nation and the goals it set for itself at the beginning of the season.
The Musketeers are tied with Rhode Island for first in the Atlantic 10 conference with a record of 8-3.
While the Rams are slated for a tough game against Saint Louis, Xavier has a full week of rest before tipping off against the last place Richmond Spiders at Cintas Center this Saturday night.
The biggest test for the Musketeers will come next week at UD Arena when the Dayton Flyers will try to avenge their 16-point loss to Xavier earlier in the season.
Xavier’s layoff will best serve ailing freshman center Jason Love (knee laceration), senior forward Justin Doellman (ankle sprain) and Duncan.
Doellman impressed everyone in attendance last week with his gritty start against Saint Louis and his game-high 24 points, just three days after spraining his ankle. The iron man made his 114th consecutive start against George Washington.
The Musketeers have just three home games remaining in which to compete for one of four first-round byes in the conference tournament, and with a target on their backs as league leaders, will need the kind of support that a team playing their best basketball of the season deserves.
Tip off against Richmond is at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Cintas Center.
Women roll as Harris nears another record
Weekend wins land Musketeers in fourth place in Atlantic 10
Emily Neubauer
Contributing Sportswriter
In a battle for fourth place in the Atlantic 10, the women’s basketball team thumped the St. Joseph Hawks last Friday night in Philadelphia by a final score of 85-72.
Senior guard Suntana Granderson led the way with a game high 28 points while freshman Amber Harris collected her sixth double-double of the season, with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Granderson shot 8-of-14 from the field, including an impressive 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She was most impressive in the first half, scoring 20 of her 28 points in the first period alone.
Harris was 6-of-14 from the field and also tallied a game-high six blocks.
Senior forward Joei Clyburn continued her success off the bench by adding 19 points and eight rebounds of her own.
Going into the half, the Musketeers led 42-35. They extended that lead quickly, getting ahead by as much as 18 with eight and half minutes left in the game. Despite the impressive 12-5 run, the Hawks refused to go quietly.
With four minutes left in the half, the Hawks were leading 31-30. Xavier responded with a 9-0 run to take a 39-31 lead, and never looked back.
While the Musketeers were out- rebounded 44-to-40, they shot 46 percent from the floor, including 57 percent from 3-point range. With the win, Xavier improves to 18-7 on the year and 6-3 in Atlantic 10 play. The Hawks slip to 13-10 over all and 5-4 in the A10.
Last Sunday, the Musketeers took on the Dayton Flyers, pouncing on the familiar foes 80-52. Harris recorded her seventh double-double of the season, and her second in a row, with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Granderson added 19 points of her own, while senior guard Michele Miller scored eleven points and seven rebounds. The Musketeers are now 31-5 all time when Miller scores in double figures.
Despite the fact that Dayton scored the first basket of the game, they didn’t enjoy much success after that as the Flyers missed 10 consecutive shots.
Xavier went on an impressive 31-9 run over the following 15:30 and took a 31-11 lead with 5:30 left in the first half. In the entire first half, Dayton made just 24 percent of their shots, leading to a score of 40-19 at the half.
Dayton picked up some steam in the second half, making 4-of-9 shots from the field including 1-of-3 from three-point range over the first 4:19. Yet Xavier still powered past the Flyers, opening up a 35-point lead, making it 80-45 with 2:10 left in the game.
Xavier held the Flyers to 28 percent shooting overall on the afternoon including just 3-of-15 from 3-point range.
In contrast, Xavier made 46 percent from the field including nine 3-pointers.
With the loss, Dayton fell to 9-16 overall and 4-6 in Atlantic 10 action, while Xavier moved to 19-7 on the year and 7-3 in conference play.
Not only did the women’s basketball team enjoy two wins, but Harris had reason to celebrate on her own.
For the 10th time this year, she was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, with an average of 15.8 points and 12.0 rebounds.
She is now one away from tying the record for most honors in this category and two away from taking the record from Xavier’s all time leading scorer, Tara Boothe.
Harris leads Xavier with 16.5 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 35 steals.
John LaFollette 
Sports Editor
Pair of Muskies win A-10 Honors
Xavier freshman Katie Philips was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for indoor track and field.
Philips had a standout performance in the All-Ohio Championships on Saturday.
Philips finished fourth in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:20. She also ran the third leg of the women’s distance medley relay team that set a Xavier school record with a time of 12:20.
Freshman men’s tennis player J.T. Torbeck was also named the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday. The Cincinnati native took home four wins for the Musketeers last weekend.
The freshman went 2-0 in singles and doubles play as Xavier beat Youngstown State 7-0 and Cleveland State 4-3. On Saturday he won 6-2, 6-2 in singles play and 8-6 in doubles play against the Penguins of YSU.
On Sunday he lost the first set of his singles match but was able to rally for the final two sets winning two tie breakers to take the match. In doubles play, he teamed with Ra’ees Ismail for the victory over the Vikings of CSU. Torbeck was the only Musketeer to win four matches over the weekend.
Club hockey donating bears
The Xavier club hockey team takes the ice against Denison at 10 p.m. on Saturday at the Northern Kentucky Ice Center in its last home game of the year. In conjunction with Senior Night, the club is also sponsoring a teddy bear donation benefiting the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Free admission will be given to those who arrive with a stuffed animal to donate, and discounted admission will be given to those who purchase a teddy bear at the hockey rink.
The donated bears will then be given out to Children’s Hospital patients in March. Everyone who donates or purchases a stuffed animal will be entered in a raffle for fabulous prizes.
Come out and show your support for club hockey and this great cause. General admission is $5 ($3 with purchase of a bear) and Xavier student admission is $2 ($1 with purchase of a bear).
