Xavier soundly defeats Lipscomb, 87-62

Four Xavier Musketeers players got into double figures in their 87-62 win over the Lipscomb Bison Saturday night.

The Musketeers and Bison started off by trading blows in the early goings. The Bison led 14-11 after Ahsan Asadullah hit a layup, which gave him eight points through the first seven minutes in the game at that point. But the Musketeers were steadfast in preventing Lipscomb from holding an advantage after that. Bryce Moore tied the game with a 3-pointer, and after KJ Johnson hit a layup, KyKy Tandy hit a 3-pointer to give the Musketeers a one-point lead

After that bucket, the Musketeers led the rest of the game. Tyrique Jones’ dunk with 1:26 to go in the first half gave them a 14-point lead, their largest of the game at that point. The second half proved much better for the Musketeers, as they raced out to a 21-point lead by the 17:33 mark. Dontarius James’ layup with 50 seconds remaining propped them up to their 25-point margin of victory, capping off a very good performance, arguably one of their best to this point.

Paul Scruggs and Zach Freemantle led in points for the Musketeers with 15 apiece. Scruggs led in the assist category with six, the most he’s recorded this season. Jones followed them up with 14 and had 10 rebounds for a double-double, his fourth of the season. Naji Marshall rounded things out with 13 points with five assists and four rebounds. His five assists are the second-most he’s had this year, behind the seven-assist showing he had against Siena on November 8.

Bryce Moore had nine points off the bench, falling just short of the double figure mark. Quentin Goodin scored seven points, Tandy and Jason Carter each had five, and James and Daniel Ramsey scored two points apiece.

KJ Johnson led in points on either side, though. Lipscomb’s freshman standout scored 25 points and went 9-for-17 from the field and 7-for-12 inside. The sophomore Asadullah finished second in points with 18, and got there on an 8-for-18 mark from the field. Andrew Fleming and Parker Hazen came close to double figures, as those Bison had nine and eight points apiece.

The win for Xavier now means they’re 7-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming to the Florida Gators. The next time we see the Musketeers, they’ll be facing the Green Bay Phoenix, which will be their penultimate game before the annual clash with the Cincinnati Bearcats.