Nov. 20, 2007

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CINCINNATI - Junior forward C.J. Anderson scored a season-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and the Musketeers scored on their first 15 possessions of the second half as the Xavier University men's basketball team smashed Coppin State, 98-49, on Tuesday evening at Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.  With the win, Xavier improves to 2-1 on the year while the Eagles slip to 2-2.  

Anderson also snared five rebounds and was 4-of-5 from the free throw line in 23 minutes of action.  Junior guard B.J. Raymond scored 13 points and chased down five rebounds and senior guard Stanley Burrell also added 13.  Burrell dished-out four assists and buried his first three 3-point attempts of the contest. 

Senior forward Josh Duncan added 11 points and seven rebounds while sophomore forward Derrick Brown was the fifth Musketeer in double-figures with 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting.  Brown also hauled in five rebounds and dropped a career-best five dimes on the night.   Senior guard Drew Lavender had another solid outing, scoring nine points and recording four assists while turning the ball over only once.  

Lavender converted on a driving lay-up with 1:50 remaining in the first stanza to put a cap on the first half scoring and giving XU a 36-25 lead at the break.  That basket would kick-start a decisive 25-0 run over the next 5:20 to give the Musketeers an authoritative 69-29 lead with 14:10 left in regulation. 

Five different Musketeers scored during the electrifying stretch and Burrell and Brown treated the Cintas Center crowd of 8,878 to yet another explosive alley-oop.    

XU shot a blistering 60 percent (36-of-60) from the floor including a mind-boggling 64.7 percent (22-of-34) in the second half.  The Musketeers turned the ball over only three times in the second half and held an opportunistic 35-to-9 advantage in points off turnovers.  

Xavier also won the battle of the boards by a decisive 39-to-22 margin and held a 16-to-6 edge in second chance points.      

The Musketeers stormed out of the gate and seized a 10-2 lead three-minutes into the contest.  Burrell keyed the spurt with a free throw and a 3-pointer on the same possession. 

Coppin State would creep back into the game though and trailed by only two points, 16-14, after Ruben Britt converted on a fast-break lay-up with 11:10 remaining in the first half. 

XU would answer though and mounted an 18-8 run over the next 7:10 to take its largest lead of the first stanza, 34-20, at the four-minute mark.  Burrell led the way for Xavier with 10 first-half points and Duncan snared six first-half boards.

Greg Jackston led the way for the Eagles with 16 points, all coming from beyond the 3-point arc.  

Xavier will be back in action on Friday, November 23 when the team travels to the "Windy City" to take on Kent State as part of the 2007 Chicago Invitational Challenge.  Game time is set for 6 p.m. and the contest will be televised regionally on FSN Ohio.