Nov. 28, 2007

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CINCINNATI - Senior forward Josh Duncan led five Musketeers in double-figures with 18 points to pace the No. 23 Xavier University men's basketball team past Oakland, 93-68, on Wednesday evening in front of 9,525 at Cintas Center in Cincinnati.  With the win, XU improves to 5-1 on the season while the Grizzlies slip to 2-4. 

Duncan buried three 3-point field goals and was 5-of-10 from the floor on Wednesday.  He also pulled down seven rebounds.  Senior guard Stanley Burrell scored 17, 15 coming in the first half, and was 6-of-9 from the field. 

Sophomore human highlight reel Derrick Brown continued his outstanding play with a career-high tying 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds.  He was 4-for-9 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. 

Senior point guard Drew Lavender had a well rounded game with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.  The seven boards tied a career best and the Bob Cousy award candidate did not turn the ball over once all night. 

Junior guard B.J. Raymond was the fifth Musketeer in double-figures with 10 points on a 4-of-6 shooting night.   

Xavier built a 18-point lead at halftime and never allowed the Grizzlies to mount any sort of rally.   The Musketeers would stretch the advantage out to as many as 30-points en route to the 93-68 win.

XU dominated down low, out-rebounding the Grizzlies 46-to-25 and holding a 38-to-24 advantage in points in the paint.  The Musketeer offense ran in a finely tuned manner as XU shot a solid 50.8 percent (32-for-63) from the floor and scorched the net at a 44.0 percent (11-for-25) clip from beyond the 3-point arc.  

Johnathon Jones led the way for Oakland with 17 points. 

XU fell behind 4-0 in the early goings of the first half but took control of the contest with a scorching 16-2 over a 2:50 stretch to take a 16-6 lead with 15-minutes remaining in the first session.   Burrell scored six points during the run and it Brown put an exclamation point at the end of a spurt with another high-flying dunk. 

Oakland would hang around by making four first-half 3-pointers but the Musketeer effectively put the game away with a 13-0 run during the latter stages of the first stanza and built their lead to 26 points, 51-25, after B.J. Raymond buried a trey at the 3:10 mark. 

The Musketeers will be back in action on Saturday, December 1 when they welcome Belmont to Cintas Center.  Game time is set for 7 p.m. and the contest will be televised regionally by FSN Ohio. 

Xavier Musketeers Men's Basketball

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