National Basketball Association
Xavier 63, Evansville 60
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials:
# Don Dailey, # Tom Eades, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
9086
By SportsDirect Inc.
Xavier 63, Evansville 60: Justin Martin scored the go-ahead basket with 39.2 seconds left and preserved the victory with a block and free throw with 18 seconds to play as the host Musketeers erased a 13-point deficit in the second half.
Semaj Christon scored 19 points while going 3-for-14 from the floor and 13-for-17 from the foul line while Matt Stainbrook recorded 10 points and 15 rebounds as Xavier (7-3) survived 36.2 percent shooting and a 5-for-16 performance from 3-point range. Dee Davis added 10 points while Myles Davis scored nine.
D.J. Balentine, who entered the game as the fourth-leading scorer in the nation at 24.9 points per game, scored 13 of his 15 in the second half for Evansville (6-4), which has lost four of its last five games. Egidijus Mockevicius registered 11 points, six rebounds and four blocks before fouling out with 1:08 remaining.
Xavier trailed by 10 in the first half and trimmed a seven-point deficit at the break to four early in the second before Balentine's long 3-pointer put Evansville on top 48-35 with just over 12 minutes left. The Musketeers took their first lead since midway through the opening 20 minutes 57-56 on Dee Davis' 3-pointer with 5:03 to go.
Balentine went to the line with the game tied at 58 and 1:08 remaining and missed both, but his floater made it 60-60 with 50 seconds to play. After Martin's free throw gave Xavier a 63-60 lead, Evansville called timeout with 5.5 seconds left and Balentine's long 3-pointer with two seconds to go was off the back iron.
GAME NOTEBOOK: This was the first meeting since 1994 between the former Midwest Collegiate Conference rivals. Xavier leads the series 26-14. ... Martin finished with five points, four rebounds, four steals and two blocks – the second when he rejected Balentine's shot with 20 seconds left. ... Xavier F Jalen Reynolds picked up a Flagrant-1 foul when he elbowed Jaylon Moore while boxing out with 9:21 left and Moore made 1-of-2 free throws to put Evansville on top 54-47.
Top Game Performances
Evansville |
|
Xavier |
D.J. Balentine 15 |
Scoring |
Semaj Christon 19 |
D.J. Balentine 5 |
Assists |
Dee Davis 3 |
Adam Wing 8 |
Rebounds |
Matt Stainbrook 15 |
Egidijus Mockevicius 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Semaj Christon 13 |
D.J. Balentine 1 |
Steals |
Justin Martin 4 |
Egidijus Mockevicius 4 |
Blocks |
Justin Martin 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Evansville
|
60 |
46.9 |
4-14 |
10-18 |
11 |
37 |
7 |
2 |
17 |
Xavier
|
63 |
36.2 |
5-16 |
16-24 |
13 |
34 |
5 |
12 |
11 |