By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

KINGSTON, R.I. - Freshman Justin Doellman found out just how tough Atlantic 10 play can be Sunday.

Doellman was on the wrong end of a cheap shot from Rhode Island's Brian Woodward in the second half of XU's 81-67 win at the Ryan Center.

With Xavier leading 76-62 with 4:01 left, Doellman was setting a screen against Woodward on the perimeter. Rather than go around Doellman, Woodward threw a forearm into Doellman's jaw, drawing an intentional flagrant foul call and an ejection from the game.

Doellman dropped to his knees before regaining full composure. Blood from his mouth had to be wiped off the court, and Keith Jackson entered the game to shoot the free throws for Doellman.

"I knew exactly what happened," said Doellman, a 6-foot-9 forward. "I wasn't dizzy or anything like that."

Less than a minute later, Doellman re-entered the game. He didn't score the rest of the way, but Doellman had already made his impact. He tied Anthony Myles for the team high of nine rebounds, four of them offensive boards, and made all three of his 3-point attempts.

Defensively, Doellman helped limit Rhode Island's starting forwards to seven combined points.

"He's learned to use his quickness and his intelligence defensively," Xavier coach Thad Matta said.

BALL PRESSURE: Sophomore point guard Dedrick Finn had a forgettable first half, when he committed two straight turnovers that led to two Rhode Island layups.

The Rams' Dawan Robinson, who finished with 23 points, twice stole the ball from Finn at midcourt and went in for uncontested layups. As a result, Finn played only seven first-half minutes while Lionel Chalmers assumed point guard duties.

"They got a couple steals on Dedrick early," Chalmers said. "And I got on him a little bit, but we knew once we settled down and played the way we play, we'd be fine."

Finn played 13 second-half minutes with no turnovers.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com