By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier's Anthony Myles take a little break. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Xavier solved two problems Saturday night and came through with its first Atlantic 10 win of the season, 99-83 over St. Bonaventure.

In their previous two losses, the 21st-ranked Musketeers struggled to execute their offense, and players grew tired from having to play the entire game because of a depleted bench.

But Saturday at Cintas Center, Xavier shot 55 percent from the field and ran a sound press-break offense, at times even without a point guard. Four Musketeers scored in double figures, and coach Thad Matta used an eight-man rotation for the first time since senior guard Lionel Chalmers broke his foot Dec. 31.

Romain Sato provided much of Xavier's offensive firepower. He scored 25 points, 19 in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Sato's 3-point shooting gave the Musketeers an early double-digit lead and allowed Matta to sub reserve guard Keenan Christiansen for point guard Dedrick Finn, who had played 120 minutes in three games before Saturday.

"We did a good job getting guys blows tonight," Matta said. "When you're up in the first half the way we were, it made it a little easier. We used the timeouts, and the media timeouts helped get them extended breaks."

Xavier's Keith Jackson puts up a shot over St. Bonaventure's Mike Gansey. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Xavier (10-4, 1-1) shot 65 percent in the first half and led 50-40 after a fast-paced opening 20 minutes, which is more St. Bonaventure's style. The Bonnies (6-9, 1-2) are the A-10's top-scoring team at nearly 80 points per game.

"They obviously forced the tempo," Matta said. "But I didn't want our team to back down. For the most part, I thought we made good decisions breaking the press."

The Musketeers desperately needed a good game from All-American David West, who had scored just 10 points in the previous three halves. West came through with his 55th career double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

West finished several fast breaks with inside baskets, including five dunks.

"I don't think they expected us to play as well as we did, going up and down," West said. "Guys stepped up and made shots."

Xavier's win brought a positive atmosphere back to the team, said West, who noticed some negativity after the 67-59 loss to Richmond on Tuesday.

"It's not us," West said. "We let the vibes around our basketball program at the end of the last game, you know we heard the fans booing. When push comes to shove, it's going to be the guys in this locker room, the guys who are around this program 24-7 that really care about what's going on."

David West hammers home a slam dunk in the first half. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

The Musketeers could have been in trouble when Finn fouled out with 7:12 remaining and Xavier ahead 88-69. But West, Jackson and Sato handled point-guard duties by committee while Christiansen provided valuable minutes with good defense.

"(Christiansen) took a charge," Matta said. "He got the ball moving, and he made himself available."

Anthony Myles finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, four on the offensive end. He scored four points in the final four minutes, thanks to the Musketeers' press break.

Xavier contained the Atlantic 10's leading scorer, Marques Green, with man defense applied by Finn. Green finished with 11 points but made just one first-half basket, a driving layup.

"Dedrick did a good job of keeping (Green) in front of him," Matta said. "And he had good help."

Green did finish with 10 assists, and Patricio Prato led the Bonnies with 21 points.

"(Finn's) a good defender," Green said. "He played smart and did his homework against me."

The Musketeers' best leaper, Keith Jackson, slammed three crowd-pleasing dunks, but his long-range jumpers hurt St. Bonaventure the most. Jackson scored a career-high 21 points and hit two 17-foot jumpers in the second half to beat the Bonnies' full-court press.

"Coach was saying, 'Keith don't shoot that - oh, OK (after it went in),'" Jackson said. "The first one was kind of a bad shot, but I hit it, so I figured I would keep shooting, and it's going in right now."

Xavier hosts LaSalle at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

St. Bon.	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Cheeks	20	1	1	0	0	4	0	3	0	2
Prato	26	6	12	6	6	1	1	4	3	21
Terrell	18	4	5	2	2	6	0	4	1	10
Smith	18	4	9	0	0	3	2	4	1	9
Green	40	4	16	0	0	2	10	3	5	11
Gansey	34	5	11	0	0	7	1	3	2	12
Shepherd	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Sutton	14	3	6	0	1	1	1	1	1	7
Young	20	4	12	1	3	4	3	4	2	11
Brown	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	31	73	9	12	32	18	26	16	83

Team rebounds: 4.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Sato	38	8	17	4	6	10	2	0	0	25
West	35	11	16	4	6	13	4	4	5	26
Myles	30	5	13	5	5	9	1	1	0	15
Finn	31	4	8	0	1	0	7	5	1	9
Jackson	39	8	10	5	6	2	5	2	5	21
Smith	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
Christiansen	13	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	0
Caudle	13	0	0	3	4	3	1	3	0	3
Totals	200	36	65	21	30	40	21	16	13	99

Team rebounds: 3.

St. Bonaventure	40	43	-83
Xavier	50	49	-99

3-point goals-St. Bonaventure 12-34 (Prato 3-7, Smith 1-3, Green 3-10, Gansey 2-6, Sutton 1-2, Young 2-6); Xavier 6-16 (Sato 5-10, Finn 1-5, Christiansen 0-1). Officials-DeMayo, Sanfillipo, Sanders. Attendance-10,250.

Coming up for XU

Tuesday	LaSalle
Saturday	at UMass
Jan. 21	Duquesne