Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
7-0 in February, Xavier streaks toward title
Lavender claims second A-10 Player of the Week honor
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
Led by determined and confrontational junior guard Drew Lavender, the men’s basketball team beat the Dayton Flyers 75-67 last Saturday night at UD Arena, extending its winning streak to six games and maintaining its hold on first place in the Atlantic 10 standings.
Amidst raucous and inaccurate taunts of “MID-GET” (the non-pejorative term “dwarf” refers to men no taller than 4’10” and Lavender stands 5’7”), Lavender dropped 27 points and two assists on the Flyers, en route to being named the Blackburn/McCafferty most valuable player of the game by members of the media.
Lavender was also named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, his second such honor of the season, after averaging 24.5 points and 4.5 assists last week.
Xavier improved to a record of 21-7 overall and 11-3 in league play. Massachusetts has an identical record, though a regular-season league tie would favor Xavier, who won the two teams’ only meeting.
The Musketeers emerged from Dayton with a win despite poor ball-handling and middling defense.
Xavier turned over the ball 17 times, while tallying just 13 assists, which is in sharp contrast to the 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio that Xavier had boasted during its previous five games.
Still, the Musketeers have come to expect excellent play from point guards Lavender and sophomore Johnny Wolf.
Head coach and former Pittsburgh point guard Sean Miller put it plainly, “That’s the most important position in this game, make no mistake about it,” he said. “Our point guard play right now is tremendous.”
Perhaps as a result of enough heart-to-heart talks with his coach, Lavender agrees on his importance. “I try to find the guy in the best position to score,” he said. “The point guard leads the team, I think I’m playing pretty good right now, and everybody is feeding off the guards.”
The win at Dayton was seen as critical for Xavier, as were all of their remaining games, especially after the Musketeers’ blowout of Rhode Island last Wednesday, 98-72.
That win gave Xavier the A-10 lead and put its post-season fate in its own hands, or rather, in the hands of its seniors.
“This team will go as far as our seniors take us,” Miller said earlier in the season. “They’ve been there before, and we’re going to let them carry us.”
Senior forward Justin Doellman answered the call, scoring a career-high 29 points against Rhode Island and playing with the leadership expected of a four-year starter.
After winning six straight games by a decisive average margin of 22.8 points, including two wins in the second- and third-most hostile environments in the A-10, the Musketeers find themselves peaking at the right time, and consequently on the doorstep of the NCAA Tournament.
With two games remaining (a Senior Night match up against Saint Joseph’s and a road game against last-place LaSalle), it appears that Xavier can finish as league champions, earn a first-round bye in the conference tournament, and close a somewhat tumultuous regular season on an 8-game winning streak.
Winning a regular season championship would be a significant accomplishment for this class of seniors, who have never done so despite having won 2-of-3 Atlantic 10 tournaments.
Posing a threat to the achievement of that preseason goal is Saint Joseph’s, who need a win against Xavier to have their own shot at a regular season title.
The Hawks are tied for third place in the conference and beat Xavier 82-74 when the teams met at Alumni Fieldhouse in January.
Tipoff against Saint Joseph’s is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Cintas Center. Senior Night festivities, during which Doellman and forwards Justin Cage, Brandon Cole, Adam Simons and Kevin Waymire will be honored, begin promptly at 6:45. p.m.
Road Trip Reports:
Reporting on Basketball Across the Nation
Paul Moeller
Contributing Sportswriter
For the third installment of the Newswire’s Road Trip Report series, Mr. Editor-in-Chief called upon me to make the trek to a place that many could mistake for a ring in Dante’s Inferno: The University of Dayton Arena. Fending off the fallen angels (the students), the demons (the pep band) and Minos himself (the crazy, dancing towel kid worshipped at halftime by the arena’s masses of sinners), our weary band of travelers survived the hellish environment with the last laugh, emerging from the inner-most circle with a convincing 75-67 victory.
The Drive
Xavier to Dayton: 46.91 miles
Interstate 75, a fine United States highway, runs from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, down through a multitude of Midwest states, and ends at State Road 826/924 near Miami Florida. On Saturday afternoon, 40 representatives from Xavier University enjoyed a short stint along this fine American roadway on their way from Cincinnati to Dayton. Departing from Cintas Center at approximately 4 p.m., students enjoyed LaRosa’s pizza, Coca-Cola products and a screening of “The Run” from the comfortable confines of a Croswell charter bus.
In an additional piece of excitement, we were all a little concerned when the bus driver dramatically pulled over to the side of I-75 on the way back to Xavier and activated the emergency 4-way flashers. Fortunately, there was no mechanical problem, as the driver simply needed to walk around to the front and manually de-ice his side-view mirror, through which he was unable to effectively see vehicles behind him. Though the weather was cause for slight concern, the journey was ultimately completed in good time.
Newswire rating: A bonus point is given for I-75’s giant Jesus providing us with salvation upon the entrance and ensuing escape from the Daytonites. 8 (out of 10)
The Arena
The 38-year-old University of Dayton Arena, located right off the highway, more closely resembles an enormous half pipe than a major basketball arena. With a roof that slopes down towards the center of the facility and back up at the two sides, the corporate sponsor-less UD Arena appears much smaller from the outside than it does from the interior.
The court and lower bowl of seats are built into the ground below the entrance level, which makes for an intimate environment, and the majority of the arena’s 13,000 seats are situated along the side of the court.
Due to the concave slope of the arena’s roof, however, the upper section of seats are actually higher than the lowest point of the roof above the court. This means that spectators cannot see the opposite side of the arena from the 400 level and creates a claustrophobic feeling at the very top rows (where, coincidentally enough, the X-treme Fans were located).
There is no traditional concourse extending along the length of the court on either side, just a narrow walkway separating the lower and upper seats (creating horrible traffic patterns that would be disastrous in an emergency evacuation situation). An enclosed vending and concession area is available underneath the baseline seats for snacking and souvenir purposes.
Newswire rating: An arena that provides great sightlines for those lucky to be in the lower bowl, but the unsettling feeling from the upper section that the roof could at any time cave in and trap you in Dayton forever precludes a high rating. 6
The Atmosphere
However hard it may be to do so, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. With that said, I give a lot of credit to the Dayton Pep Band. As Xavier students made their way around the concourse, band members greeted them with intensely loud brass instruments blaring the UD fight song literally in our faces.
To further the intimidation in the incredibly competitive environment, the band then followed us to our seats in the upper 400 level, surrounded us, and continued to play obnoxious pep song after pep song right at us. Unfortunately for them, however, they had no answer for our repeated chants of “NIT! NIT!”
Dayton has always been known for its spirited basketball fans, and the fact that their arena is a frequent host site of the NCAA Tournament is proof of this. Hundreds of Dayton fans had donned red shirts that read “Beat Xavier,” and the arena cheered wildly during halftime when a student at center court preformed a bizarre, towel-waving, limb-thrashing, body-heave of a dance set to ‘90s techno music. The routine, apparently a recurring event, prompted a witty X-treme Fan to once inquire if the dancer was Dayton’s version of “The Greased-Up Deaf Guy.”
Excluding a game-opening reverse alley-oop dunk and a few threatening scoring runs, the Dayton fans didn’t have too much to cheer about all night. Given the importance of the game to Dayton fans, the atmosphere could be summed up as harsh and chippy yet surmountable.
Newswire rating: Yes, Dayton fans support their team with a venomous passion, but their rating would be greatly improved if not for several classless comments in front of children that cannot be reprinted here. 6
The Students
Referred to as “The Red Scare,” the Dayton student section is located behind one of the baskets and seats about the same number of students as Cintas Center. They received red and white rally towels, but as mentioned before, didn’t have many occasions to wave them.
In terms of creative cheers, the UD students didn’t provide anything noteworthy outside of their trademark “Go Dayton Flyers,” a frustratingly catchy cheer that provokes a gag reflex in anyone not wearing UD red.
Furthermore, their incessant yelling about the fabricated sexual promiscuity of Justin Doellman’s wife wasn’t.
Newswire rating: There’s really nothing special here to report. 5
The Game
Following an early four point deficit, the Musketeers shot off on an amazing 13-0 run, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Continuing their recent streak of hot shooting, especially from long distance, Xavier also held Dayton’s top offensive threat, Brian Roberts, relatively in check. Dayton’s sophomore forward Charles Little turned in a career effort with 28 points, but the game’s top performer was Xavier’s junior guard Drew Lavender, who concordantly won the game’s Most Valuable Player award.
Despite a late-game push that was slightly uncomfortable for the Xavier section, the Musketeers pulled away in the end, securing the season sweep of the Flyers with the 75-67 victory.
Newswire rating:
Few things in life are sweeter than a win at Dayton. 9
The Experience
As a Xavier fan dressed in navy blue with the Superman X on my chest, I was not excited to interact with Dayton fans.
From the moment I walked in the building to the final steps back on the charter bus, I didn’t speak to many people wearing red, yet even before the game, I felt a subtle confidence that the Muskies would pull it out. I’m not one to trash talk, but there were certainly many opportunities, both before and after the game.
As I made my way around the concourse to leave the arena, a Dayton fan walked up to me, looked me dead in the eye and said, “You still suck.” I just smiled and laughed to myself, leaving the boorish UD fan to fester in his yearning for that illusive “next year.”
Newswire rating: 34/50
Late-February MADNESS
John LaFollette 
Sports Editor
Indoor track sets records at A-10s
The Xavier University men’s and women’s indoor track teams finished their season with two more broken records at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships held at University of Rhode Island last weekend. Sophomore Becky Clark recorded a 4:54 in the one mile run which was six seconds faster than her previous school record. On the men’s side, freshman Derek LeBlanc set a Xavier best 21 feet in the long jump.
The men’s team was also highlighted by personal records set by sophomore Luke Beuerlein in the 5,000 meter run, good enough for a sixth place finish. Junior Ben Milroy ran in the 8,000 meter event and turned in his fastest time of the year even though he was battling an injury. The XU men’s 4x800 meter relay team of sophomore Clinton Womack, Beuerlein, junior Matt Weingardt and freshman Michael Westendorp finished sixth with a time of 8:12.
The women’s relay teams fared well with the 4x800 meter relay team made up of freshman Kate Philips, freshman Kelsey Flaherty, Clark and sophomore Ashley Stick finished fourth with a time of 9:30. The distance medley relay team of junior Caitlin Shagena, senior Kelly Sraj, freshmen Bethany Moore and Danielle Meiners finished in the top ten with a time of 12:32.
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Baseball winless, falls to 0-6
Xavier and Western Kentucky played a doubleheader to make up for a previous rain-out at Western Kentucky University. The Muskies were unable to come up with either win as they fell to 0-6 on the season, while WKU moves to 5-1.
Game one began with six innings of dominating pitching by the Hilltoppers of WKU scattering just five hits while recording seven strikeouts of the Musketeers. Senior Jordan Wolf was able to go 2-3 and was the only threat for the lowly Musketeer offense that failed to connect for an extra-base hit.
Senior Bill Konecny started the game for Xavier and had a solid outing allowing two earned runs, six hits, five strikeouts and one unearned run in six innings of work. In the seventh, Konecny gave the ball to freshman Zac Richard who proceeded to allow two runs in just two innings. The final score tallied 5-0 WKU.
In the second game of the doubleheader the Muskies were able to muster only one extra-base hit, a double by sophomore Sean Farrell, which was his only hit. Fellow sophomore Adam Pasono was the only XU player with two or more hits finishing 2-4 with the lone RBI of the day for Xavier.
The pitching duties went to senior Mike Creevy who went just four innings allowing seven runs on nine hits. After Creevy, Xavier pitched one man per inning until the conclusion of the game.
