By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The nonconference interruption is over. After defeating crosstown rival Cincinnati Tuesday, Xavier returns to Atlantic 10 Conference play today, still in last place but with designs on gaining on the conference leaders.

The Musketeers (11-9, 2-5 A-10) host their last-place counterpart, Fordham, at 2 p.m. today at Cintas Center.

Fordham is 1-6 in the league at the bottom of the Atlantic 10 East; Xavier is in sixth place in the West.

Coach Thad Matta has tried different lineups and different defenses this season, and the consistency he has been looking for is beginning to show. With nine regular-season games left, the Musketeers need to start a run now if they want to finish near the top of the conference.

"It looks like the schedule is a little favorable for us," senior Romain Sato said. "We beat Cincinnati but come back to our league in last place. We've got a lot to work on to get better. When you're in last place in the league, every game is a big game now."

The final nine games are more manageable than the first seven A-10 games, not necessarily because of the opponents but because of the game locations and where they occur on the schedule.

Xavier lost three straight A-10 West games in the first half partly by playing Richmond, George Washington and Dayton in a span of seven days, with the last two games on the road. The Musketeers will get an opportunity to avenge a road loss at Duquesne by playing host to the Dukes Feb. 28.

"I think we have a little momentum going in," senior Lionel Chalmers said. "We'll see a couple of those teams that squeaked by us last time. We'll see them again, so it should be interesting. We're at a point where we're consistent now, and we're developing and understanding what this team is about and what it can do."

Matta does not want his players getting ahead of themselves, thinking that just because they beat 10th-ranked Cincinnati, the Musketeers will roll through the rest of the A-10 schedule.

Though the team has shown improvement offensively since shooting 21 percent Jan. 25 against Richmond, Matta isn't pleased with Xavier's 45.2 percent field goal defense.

"We're not in a position as a basketball team to celebrate anything," Matta said. "We've still got a lot of basketball to play."

But the Cincinnati game at least has restored Xavier's players belief they can contend with the A-10's better teams.

As it approaches the final weeks of the season, Xavier will put itself in position to compete for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid by going on a long winning streak, or be forced to earn one in the A-10 Tournament.

"The question is, where do we go from here?" senior Anthony Myles said. "We'll see."

Xavier vs. Fordham

Tipoff: 2 p.m. today, Cintas Center (10,250).

Records: Xavier 11-9 (2-5 Atlantic 10), Fordham 4-14 (1-6).

TV: None.

Radio: WKRC-AM (550).

Line: XU by 20.

Series: XU leads 11-2.

XAVIER

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Justin Cage	Fr.	6-6	4.5
Justin Doellman	Fr.	6-9	6.6
Anthony Myles	Sr.	6-9	9.3
Lionel Chalmers	Sr.	6-0	14.8
Romain Sato	Sr.	6-5	16.2

Coach: Thad Matta (63-21, third season; 87-29 overall).

FORDHAM

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Michael Haynes	Sr.	6-8	16.0
M. Jarrell-Wright	Sr.	6-5	13.0
Mushon Ya'akosi	So.	6-8	6.9
Derrick Breland	Jr.	5-10	7.7
J. Anderson	So.	6-1	6.7

Coach: Dereck Whittenburg (4-14, first season; 71-64 overall).

---

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com