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Men's Hoops Rings in 2009 With a 78-57 Victory Over Robert Morris
Dec. 31, 2008
CINCINNATI – Junior Jason Love scored a career-high 15 points and hauled in six rebounds to lead the No. 22 Xavier University men’s basketball team to a 78-57 victory over Robert Morris on New Year’s Eve in front of 9,343 at Cintas Center. With the win, Xavier improves to 10-2 on the season while the Colonials slip to 6-7. Love’s 15 came on 7-of-9 shooting and he also swatted three shots. Freshman guard Brad Redford had breakout performance on Wednesday, scoring 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point land. Jamel McLean pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with his seven points. Freshman guard Terrell Holloway added to the career-night flavor by dishing-out five assists. He also scored six points, all coming from the charity stripe.
XU built a solid 45-27 halftime lead but the Colonials stormed out of the gate in the second half and outscored the Musketeers by a 12-5 count over the first 6:20 of the second half, cutting the Xavier edge to 50-39. However, Love responded by scoring the next four points and Redford effectively put two nails in the coffin when he drained back-to-back treys and gave XU a 60-41 lead with 11-minutes to go. Xavier would extend the lead to as many as 25 points and cruised to the win. The Musketeers shot a solid 52.1 percent from the floor and held the Colonials to just 39.7 percent shooting. XU also won the battle of the boards by a 39-23 margin and had a 27-13 edge on the defensive glass. RMU got on the board first when Ifeanyi Ehirim opened up the game with a layup. However, the Musketeers responded with an 11-0 run over the next 3:10 and seized an 11-2 lead after Kenny Frease converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play at the 16:10 mark. Love was key to the opening spurt as the junior scored six points in the first 2:20. The Colonials were able to whittle the lead down to seven points with 10:40 remaining in the first stanza but XU got hot from long range and closed the half on a 25-14 run and headed into the locker room with a 45-27 edge. Xavier is back in action on Saturday, January 3 when the team travels to Charlottesville to take on UVA. Game time is set for 2 p.m. and the contest will be televised regionally on FSN Ohio.
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