By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NEW YORK - The most controversial part of Xavier's uncomfortably close 75-61 victory over Fordham on Saturday happened by accident, but it gave the Rams a purpose to play hard.

With 3:22 left in the first half, Xavier's Keenan Christiansen fouled Fordham's John Blackgrove on a drive to the basket.

But the fouls didn't stop there. After the whistle, Blackgrove continued for a half-speed layup and found David West's arms unintentionally wrapped around him instead. The impact of West's 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame knocked the 6-2, 180-pound Blackgrove to the Rose Hill Gym floor and nearly set off a brawl.

"We're supposed to keep playing," West said. "I heard the whistle blow, but (Blackgrove) kept going. If he's going to keep playing, I'm going to keep playing, and I just went for the ball."

Once officials restored order, West received a technical foul and Michael Haynes shot four free throws for the injured Blackgrove, leaving the Musketeers up 36-27.

The incident fired up the Rams, who closed Xavier's halftime lead to five points before really giving the Musketeers a scare.

"The crowd was into it," said XU freshman guard Dedrick Finn. "They were wanted something like that to happen to get momentum."

Xavier quickly built a 50-39 lead three minutes into the second half, but Fordham came right back with a 14-2 run that gave the Rams a 53-52 lead with 12:23 to play.

"I didn't think we had enough energy on defense to disrupt what they were trying to do on offense," XU coach Thad Matta said, paraphrasing a message he gave to his team during a timeout.

The Musketeers (14-4, 5-1 Atlantic 10) answered with a 15-2 run, and Fordham didn't draw closer than nine after that.

Finn had one of his best offensive halves this season, scoring 14 first-half points while making 4 of 5 3-pointers. He finished with 17 points.

West led the Musketeers with 18 points and 19 rebounds. Romain Sato scored 16 points.

Blackgrove missed only a couple of minutes after West's technical foul and scored 11 first-half points for Fordham (2-15, 1-5). Blackgrove finished with 14, while Michael Haynes had 18 points and 11 boards.

Now Xavier's focus turns to how it can keep a five-game Atlantic 10 winning streak going. The Musketeers will surely be tested again next Saturday at Richmond, the first stop on a two-game road trip.

The Spiders gave Xavier its only A-10 loss of the season on Jan. 7, shocking the Musketeers 67-59 at Cintas Center. Since then, Xavier has benefited from playing cellar-dwelling teams.

Xavier enters the A-10 season's midpoint with remaining games at Richmond and Saint Joseph's, and two games against Dayton. The Musketeers also visit George Washington, La Salle and Duquesne.

Xavier, ranked 24th in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, will get help from Lionel Chalmers, who will begin practicing Monday. The senior guard has been out the last four weeks since undergoing surgery Jan. 1 to repair a broken right foot.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Jackson	31	4	12	0	0	4	2	5	0	8
West	40	4	10	10	12	19	3	3	4	18
Myles	31	6	17	2	5	6	2	2	2	14
Sato	40	3	10	9	10	8	1	3	2	16
Finn	40	6	12	0	1	6	2	3	3	17
Smith	0+	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Christiansen	12	1	4	0	0	2	1	1	0	2
Caudle	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Caldwell	0+	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	24	66	21	28	49	11	18	12	75

Team rebounds - 3.

Fordham	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Haynes	37	6	16	4	5	11	0	0	5	18
Williamson	25	1	6	0	0	6	2	5	2	2
Batemon	35	6	11	3	4	8	1	3	4	15
Wilson	16	1	2	1	2	3	6	4	1	3
Jarrell-Wright	31	3	9	0	1	5	2	2	2	6
Anderson	24	1	7	0	0	3	2	2	2	3
Blackgrove	24	4	8	2	2	1	0	2	1	14
Ya'Akosi	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	22	60	10	14	39	13	18	18	61

Team rebounds - 2.

Xavier	42	33	-75
Fordham	37	24	-61

3-pointers - XU 6-18 (West 0-1, Sato 1-4, Finn 5-10, Christiansen 0-3), F 7-25 (Haynes 2-5, Williamson 0-4, Wilson 0-1, Jarrell-Wright 0-3, Anderson 1-4, Blackgrove 4-8). Technicals - XU 1 (West), Fordam 1 (Team). Officials - Perone, Elliott, Faia. Attendance - 2,318.