25 November, 2006
by Elliot Smilowitz
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| American (3-2) |
33 |
35 |
68 |
| Xavier (4-1) |
35 |
51 |
86 |
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Three Xavier Musketeers scored in double digits in the second half as Xavier outpaced American 86-68. After an even first half, Xavier outscored the Eagles by 16 in the second period.
Xavier was 10-of-20 from the arc, including 6 second-half treys. Josh Duncan led the Musketeers with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Justin Doellman added 17 and 7, and Justin Cage had 16 and 8. Paulius Joneliunas scored a team-high 15 for the Eagles.
American led for most of the first half, opening up a lead of 6 at 9:15 on a Garrison Carr three-pointer. Late in the half, the teams traded the lead, with Xavier taking control for good at 2:27 on an Adrion Graves trey. The Musketeers quickly stretched their lead to double digits early in the second stanza and never looked back.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
With 19:05 to go in the second half, American had the ball down by 2. Duncan stole the ball and dunked. Paulius Joneliunas missed a shot, leading to Cage hitting 1 of 2 free throws for the Musketeers. After a miss by Lekavicius, Duncan hit a three-pointer to make the score 44-36 and permanently give Xavier the second-half momentum.
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| Key sign it was over |
With 6:12 to go, American had cut their deficit to 12. In their next three possessions, Xavier went 5-of-5 from the free throw line and added a lay-up, while American mustered a turnover and two missed shots. With 4:25 left, Xavier led 79-60.
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| Key performance |
Cage had 16 points and 8 rebounds on the game. He led Xavier’s big-scoring second half with 14 points, including 11 free throws, and 5 boards.
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| Key statistic |
Xavier held American to 38.7 percent shooting in the second half, often making the Eagles settle for bad looks or long jumpers.
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| Notes |
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Andre Ingram, American’s leading scorer, was held to 5 points on the game. He was scoreless in the first stanza as he missed much of the half with foul trouble.
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| – |
Xavier dominated the Eagles on the boards, 36-25.
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The Musketeers had 18 assists and 12 turnovers. Five Xavier players had multiple assists.
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American got 31 bench points. Arvydas Eitutavicius scored 11, and Carr added 9 on 3-of-6 three-point shooting.
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Xavier shot 21-of-25 from the line in the second half.
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