Drew Lavender

Jan. 27, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) -Drew Lavender scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and No. 23 Xavier defeated Massachusetts 77-65 Sunday to move atop the Atlantic 10 standings.

Derrick Brown added 14 points for the Musketeers (17-4 overall, 5-1), who won for the ninth time in 10 games. C.J. Anderson added 13 and Josh Duncan 10.

Etienne Brower led the Minutemen (13-6, 2-3) with 22 points. UMass shot just 37 percent in the game after a cold start.

After shooting just 37 percent in the opening half, the Musketeers picked up the pace early in the second, turning their transition game into easy shots, building on a 12-point halftime to go up 54-38 on C. J. Anderson's spinning move in the lane with 13:12 to play.

Xavier hit seven of its first 11 shots from the floor in the second half. All of the Musketeers' baskets of the second half either came on transition layups or short jumpers in the lane until Lavender hit a 3 in the final seconds.

UMass held Xavier without a field goal for 7:10, but could only slice a 16-point deficit down to 10 as the Musketeers hit 6 of 8 free throws.

The Minutemen got within 63-56 on Chris Lowe's drive, but Lavender cut through a press and went the length of the floor for a layup. He was fouled on the next possession, hitting one free throw to make it 66-57 with 4 minutes left.

The Minutemen closed to 68-63 on Ricky Harris' basket with 1:58 to play, but Duncan, B.J. Raymond and Brown had layups as the Musketeers pulled away in the final 1:28.

Xavier led 34-23 at intermission.

The Minutemen missed 19 of their first 24 shots from the floor, and the Musketeers were only 3 for 15 on 3-point attempts.

Xavier increased its lead to 34-20 when Raymond drained a 3 from the top late in the half, but Lowe hit a 3 that rolled in as the horn sounded.