Xavier University
Richmond
Xavier Wins at Richmond, 63-51
02.08.06 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2006
RICHMOND, Va. - Senior Brian Thornton scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Xavier to a 63-51 win over Richmond on Wednesday at the Robins Center on the University of Richmond campus. With the win, XU improves to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference while UR drops to 11-11 on the season and 4-5 in A-10 play.
After Richmond took its fourth lead of the second half at 37-36 with 14:19 to go in the game, Justin Cage drove the lane and converted in traffic to give Xavier the lead for good at 38-37 with 14:07 left in the game. Cage's bucket started a 13-4 XU run over the next 5:19, which was capped by a jumper by Stanley Burrell to give the Musketeers a 49-39 lead at the 8:48 mark.
The Musketeers extended its lead to 62-48 at the 3:10 mark when Dedrick Finn drained a 3-point basket from deep to give Xavier its largest lead of the game. XU's strong second half was fueled by great shooting as the Musketeers were 14-of-23 (.609) from the floor in the final 20 minutes including 3-of-4 (.750) from beyond the arc.
Richmond opened the game by scoring the first seven points over 2:51 until Thornton finally put the Musketeers on the board with a pair of free throws at 16:53. Thornton's free throws ignited a 12-3 Xavier run over the next 5:35 which included Xavier taking its first lead at 12-10 off two made free throws from Johnny Wolf at 11:18.
XU and UR would battle back and forth over the remainder of the first half which included 10 lead changes and seven ties. Each team made the most of their first-half free throw opportunities as the Musketeers were 14-of-15 (.933) from the charity stripe while the Spiders converted on 9-of-10 (.900) from the line. The Spiders took a 28-27 lead into the locker rooms off a pair of free throws from Jermaine Bucknor.
Thornton's 20 points came on 5-of-7 from the floor and a season-high 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. Justin Doellman grabbed a game-high seven rebounds to lead XU on the board and the junior also added four points. After being limited to just two points in the first half, Burrell scored 15 points in the second half to finish with 17 for the game. Cage chipped in with 10 points to go along with three rebounds.
Xavier shot 48.8 percent (20-of-41) for the game including 4-of-10 (.400) from beyond the arc. XU converted on 19-of-26 (.731) from the free throw line. The Musketeers controlled the battle of the boards as XU finished with a 30-to-21 advantage including 21-to-15 edge on the defensive glass.
Richmond was led by Oumar Sylla and Gaston Moliva as the two scored 12 points and 10 points, respectively. The Spiders finished the game at 35.9 percent from the floor (14-of-39) and UR was just 3-of-15 (.200) from 3-point range.
After two games away from Cintas Center, the Musketeers will return home on Saturday, Feb. 11, to play host to the La Salle Explorers. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
-XU-
