As shocking as it was, Drew Lavender started tonight’s game against Rhode Island even though he did not participate in the morning shoot around. Clearly not at 100% he spent most of the game just doing what most point guards do, running the offense. That is until the game was on the line. (more on that later)
Tonight, Xavier looked great at times and at other times looked as though they were lost. They were up 10 at the half on the road in a sold out arena just trying its best to get its team to pull off the upset. When Rhode Island finally went on its 13-0 run with 15 minutes to go in the 2nd half it looked as they had Xavier on it heels. Rhode Island did have Xavier on its heals and even on the ropes up 3 with 5 minutes to play. Then Josh Duncan, with 4 fouls, took over yet again. As far as I know he did not miss a single shot in the game. The last two games he is perfect from three point range and tonight he took over in the final minutes and helped Xavier go on a run that put the up 8 with only 1 minute to play. Although the game got a little antsy at the end with Rhode Island stealing an inbound pass and cutting the lead to 3, Rhode Island would not get the ball in the last minute down by one possession.
So what about Drew? Well he was not himself tonight, unable to penetrate the zone. That is until the last few minutes when he did his typical crossover dribble and blew by the Rhode Island defender and dropped his teardrop on Rhode Island to expand Xavier’s lead. Then when breaking the press he blew by defenders and even once was tripped up and somehow got the ball to Stanley Burrell instead of turning the ball over and giving Rhode Island a chance to tie the game. It was gutsy performance for a guy who was clearly ailing. So tonight Duncan took over the game yet again but Drew showed determination and courage in leading his team to victory, on the road at Rhode Island despite playing hurt.
It was another huge win for Xavier and extended their win streak to 8 games and gave them a commanding 3 game lead in the A-10 after St. Joe’s lost tonight. Only five regular season games remain for Xavier and plenty of tests are ahead but something tells me they won’t be any more difficult than the one Xavier faced tonight.
Tonight, Xavier looked great at times and at other times looked as though they were lost. They were up 10 at the half on the road in a sold out arena just trying its best to get its team to pull off the upset. When Rhode Island finally went on its 13-0 run with 15 minutes to go in the 2nd half it looked as they had Xavier on it heels. Rhode Island did have Xavier on its heals and even on the ropes up 3 with 5 minutes to play. Then Josh Duncan, with 4 fouls, took over yet again. As far as I know he did not miss a single shot in the game. The last two games he is perfect from three point range and tonight he took over in the final minutes and helped Xavier go on a run that put the up 8 with only 1 minute to play. Although the game got a little antsy at the end with Rhode Island stealing an inbound pass and cutting the lead to 3, Rhode Island would not get the ball in the last minute down by one possession.
So what about Drew? Well he was not himself tonight, unable to penetrate the zone. That is until the last few minutes when he did his typical crossover dribble and blew by the Rhode Island defender and dropped his teardrop on Rhode Island to expand Xavier’s lead. Then when breaking the press he blew by defenders and even once was tripped up and somehow got the ball to Stanley Burrell instead of turning the ball over and giving Rhode Island a chance to tie the game. It was gutsy performance for a guy who was clearly ailing. So tonight Duncan took over the game yet again but Drew showed determination and courage in leading his team to victory, on the road at Rhode Island despite playing hurt.
It was another huge win for Xavier and extended their win streak to 8 games and gave them a commanding 3 game lead in the A-10 after St. Joe’s lost tonight. Only five regular season games remain for Xavier and plenty of tests are ahead but something tells me they won’t be any more difficult than the one Xavier faced tonight.
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