by Tim Daniel
The Xavier Musketeers had another matchup where their opponents stormed back, but once again, the Muskies prevail and hold on to win over St. John's.
From the jump, Xavier showed why they are a top 10 offensive team in the country scoring 48 points in the first half. Souley Boum was getting everyone involved in the half-court, and Xavier played a little more inside-out than they have over the last few weeks. The Musketeers also were impressive on the glass outrebounding the Johnnies 23-14 with eight offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points.
In the second half, St. John's was able to push back and make the game a heck of a fight. Xavier went up 67-49, but then St. John's kicked into gear and was able to make a run including a 14-2 run to make it a 69-63 game. From there, the offenses were trading baskets until Souley Boum was able to knock down four free-throws and a huge 3 from Zach Freemantle gave their squad a bit of breathing room.
Though, David Jones hit a few big threes for the home team cutting the difference down to five but weren't able to make it closer than that and Xavier was able to hold on to an 84-79 victory.
The Musketeers have now won seven straight games, and are 3-0 in the Big East, but the next game is the big one. Xavier will host the #2 UCONN Huskies at the Cintas Center on New Year's Eve. Tip-off will be at 12 PM EST and air on Fox.
