Drew Lavender dropped nine dimes and scored his 1,000th career point.

March 8, 2007

CINCINNATI - All-league selection Justin Doellman led five Musketeers in double-figures with 19 points and junior guard Drew Lavender scored his 1,000th career point to lead the top-seeded Xavier University men's basketball team past No. 8 Dayton, 72-51, on Thursday afternoon at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. With the win, the Musketeers' 11th in their last 12 A-10 Tournament games, XU improves to 24-7 on the year while Dayton slips to 19-12.

Xavier has now won three games vs. UD this season and has won 12 of the last 15 vs. the Flyers. XU last took three games from Dayton during the 2001-02 campaign.

Xavier, which advanced to its eighth semifinal in 12 tries, will play either No. 4 seed Rhode Island or No. 5 seed Fordham at 6:30 on Friday. Fans in Cincinnati can watch the semifinal contest on FSN Ohio.

Doellman's 19 came on 5-of-9 shooting and he was two rebounds shy of a double-double. Lavender had his typical game, scoring 13 points and dishing-out nine assists while turning the ball over only once. He also led the team with three steals.

Senior forward Justin Cage scored 14 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting while hauling in seven rebounds. Junior forward Josh Duncan chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

XU built a 33-27 halftime edge and extended that lead to a 52-34 on the strength of a mammoth 40-15 run over an 18-minute stretch.

Dayton would shrink the lead to 10 points after Brian Roberts sparked an 8-0 run to shrink the lead to 10 points, 52-42, with 10:20 to go. However, Xavier silenced any talk of a UD comeback when the lead ballooned to 19 points, 67-48, on a pair of Doellman free throws with 4:50 to go.

XU won the battle of the boards, 32-to-25, and held a 25-to-19 edge on the defensive glass. XU shot a solid 51.1 percent (21-of-47) from the floor and took care of business at the charity stripe, making free throws at a 78.9 percent (15-of-19) rate.

The Musketeers stumbled out of the gate and fell behind the Flyers by a 19-12 count after Brian Roberts connected on a runner in the lane with 10:15 remaining in the first half.

Dayton would go ice cold from that point though, as the Musketeers would not allow UD to score for the next eight minutes. XU took advantage, sprinting out to a 13-0 run over that eight-minute stretch and led by as many as eight points, 30-22, when Cage converted on fast break lay-up.

Roberts made a floater as the first half expired to shrink the Musketeer lead to 33-27 at the break.