Jan. 7, 2012

Box Score |

BRONX, N.Y. - Mark Lyons posted his third 20-plus point game of the season and Andre Walker tied a career-high with 14 rebounds as Xavier earned a 67-59 victory against Fordham before a crowd of 3,200 at historic Rose Hill Gymnasium.

It was the first Atlantic 10 victory of the season for the Musketeers who are now 1-1 in the league, and 10-5 overall. Fordham drops its second straight contest and falls to 7-8 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

Xavier's defense was noticeably different in the win as they held the Rams' Chris Gaston - who entered the game averaging 16.7 points per game - to just 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. It was the first time since the win over Cincinnati on Dec. 10 that Xavier held an opponent to under 60 points. The Musketeers are 3-0 when holding an opponent to less than 60.

Dezmine Wells contributed 13 points including a big alley oop dunk, while Brad Redford went for eight points and Kenny Frease adding nine.

Lyons started off with the hot hand for Xavier scoring 10-straight points in the opening minutes of the first half. His shooting came during a 6-of-6 stretch from the floor that pushed Xavier to a 16-10 lead with 11:56 remaining in the first half. He scored three times inside and nailed a 3-pointer from the corner but was sent to the bench after picking up his second foul. The Musketeers started off the first half shooting just 1-of-6 from the floor, but that quickly changed with Lyons' streak.

Fordham cut Xavier's lead down to one before Lyons reentered to the game. His return to the floor prompted a 9-0 run forcing the Rams to call after a run on a backdoor alley oop from Lyons to Wells.

Xavier's defense held Fordham scoreless from the floor for nearly five minutes during the run that gave it some breathing room. The half came to an end with the Musketeers leading 35-30.

The Musketeers used a strong inside presence to outscore the Rams 20-8 in the paint during the opening period. For the half Xavier was 48.1 percent (13-of-27) and hit two of its four 3-pointers. Fordham shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the floor and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from long range. Rebounds were in favor of the Musketeers 18-14.

Xavier kept its momentum going at the beginning of the second half which saw Redford hit his second 3-pointer of the day and Andre Walker's reverse layup and foul extended the Musketeers' lead to 47-34.

Lyons added back-to-back treys that opened it up to a 54-40 lead for Xavier, before Fordham's final push.

The Rams cut the lead to five points with less than two minutes to play, but the Musketeers' outstanding ball movement found Frease underneath for an uncontested dunk that sealed the victory.

Xavier returns to Cincinnati for a three-game homestand that begins with Duquesne on Wednesday. That game tips at 7 p.m. in Cintas Center.

Xavier Musketeers Men's Basketball

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