Cincinnati, Ohio - Mark Lyons had 18 points to pace five players in double figures, as Xavier pulled away in the second half for an 88-64 victory over UAlbany before 10,004 fans at Cintas Center. The Musketeers shot 56.9 percent from the field, including 14-of-28 from three-point range.
      Xavier (8-3) led 53-42 in the final period, but then ripped off eight straight points. Tu Holloway, who had nine of his 11 points after the break, made two long-range jumpers in that spurt. Kenny Frease, a 7-foot center who totaled 17 points and nine rebounds, added two free throws.
     The Musketeers, who have reached the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 the last three years, were still ahead, 66-52, but then ended any suspense with back-to-back conventional three-point plays by Frease and Jamel McLean. The 6-foot-8 senior forward was fouled as he scored in the lane for a 72-52 margin with 8:48 remaining. McLean finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
     "I thought we were sluggish out of the gate defensively," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team had its three-game win streak halted. "But we were still in good position at the half. Xavier beat us up physically in the second half and hurt us on the glass and the interior."
     In the opening period, the Musketeers wiped out an early 6-5 deficit with 13 unanswered. Lyons made one of his career-high six 3-pointers to put his team ahead. Holloway, who handed out nine assists after making it back to campus just hours before the game due to Monday's in the New York metropolitan area, connected off his steal and Dante Jackson canned a long-range shot to complete the run.
     UAlbany (7-7) closed the gap with eight straight points and got within 23-20 when Tim Ambrose hit a jumper off a dribble move. Ambrose, a 6-foot senior led all scorers with 24 points. Xavier regrouped with eight of the game's next 11 points, before taking a 41-33 to the intermission. Jackson, who had 14 points, buried consecutive three-pointers from the left corner in that stretch.
     "(Mark) Lyons has an aggressive mentality," Brown explained. "He is tough to guard when he is making jump shots. He got himself into a rhythm. Holloway's three's in the second half were of the 25 to 28 feet variety."
     UAlbany's Logan Aronhalt had 13 of his 17 points in the second half, while Mike Black was the third Great Dane in twin figures with 11.

Paw Prints:  Xavier extended the nation's second-longest home winning streak to 30 in a row ... the Musketeers, who were coming off a 64-54 loss at Gonzaga on Dec. 22, have a 141-17 all-time record at Cintas Center ... UAlbany had won six of its last seven entering the contest ... the Great Danes played before a crowd of 10,000-plus for the 22nd time as a Division I program ... Tim Ambrose scored 20 or more points for the 19th time as a collegian ... the 6-foot senior has a 14-game, double-figure scoring streak ... Ambrose is No. 12 on the program's career scoring list with 1,301 points ... Joe Geiger, whose son, Jay, is UAlbany's athletic trainer, was inducted into the Xavier Hall of Fame in 2005 ... Geiger, who scored 1,073 career points, was a 1964 NBA Draft choice by the Cincinnati Royals ... Billy Allen and Logan Aronhalt, a pair of Ohio natives, had several family members in attendance ... both sons played for their fathers on the high school level.

Xavier 88, UAlbany 64 (12/28/10 at Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio)

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Box Score

Albany vs Xavier
12/28/10 7:00 p.m. at Cincinnati, OH

Albany 64

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
11	Devlin, Luke	f	2-6	1-5	0-0	2-1	3	1	5	0	0	0	1	26
44	Puk, John	c	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	3	0	0	2	0	0	9
02	Aronhalt, Logan	g	6-15	4-9	1-2	1-4	5	1	17	2	2	0	1	39
10	Black, Mike	g	4-10	1-4	2-3	1-0	1	2	11	2	3	0	0	31
23	Ambrose, Tim	g	8-15	2-4	6-9	1-4	5	1	24	5	1	0	3	36
00	Iati, Jacob	-	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
05	Tartt, Derrek	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	6
21	Metcalf, Blake	-	1-2	0-0	0-0	1-4	5	2	2	3	1	1	2	31
22	Watts, Ralph	-	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3
24	Lindfors, Jake	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
33	Allen, Billy	-	1-3	1-3	0-0	0-1	1	3	3	0	0	0	1	15
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	1-1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	23-53	9-26	9-14	7-16	23	14	64	13	9	1	8	200
			43.4%	34.6%	64.3%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		13-29	4-13	3-4
			44.8%	30.8%	75.0%
	2nd Half:		10-24	5-13	6-10
			41.7%	38.5%	60.0%

Xavier 88

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
22	McLEAN, Jamel	f	5-7	0-0	5-9	6-5	11	0	15	1	1	0	0	32
32	FREASE, Kenny	c	7-8	0-0	3-3	2-7	9	1	17	3	4	0	0	26
10	LYONS, Mark	g	6-11	6-9	0-0	0-1	1	2	18	5	4	0	1	33
25	JACKSON, Dante'	g	5-13	4-12	0-0	0-4	4	4	14	4	1	0	1	35
52	HOLLOWAY, Tu	g	4-6	3-4	0-0	0-3	3	1	11	9	1	0	1	32
02	LATHAM, Jordan	-	1-3	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	4
11	CANTY, Jay	-	1-3	0-2	0-0	1-2	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	11
13	FEENEY, Kevin	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	4
14	MAZZA, Johnny	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
15	TAYLOR, Andrew	-	2-2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	3	4	1	0	0	0	9
21	ROBINSON, Jeff	-	1-3	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	2	2	0	0	1	0	9
33	HUGHES, Joe	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
44	McKENZIE, Griffin	-	1-2	1-1	0-0	0-1	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	3
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	1-0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	33-58	14-28	8-12	12-26	38	14	88	24	13	1	3	200
			56.9%	50.0%	66.7%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		16-28	9-16	0-3
			57.1%	56.3%	0.0%
	2nd Half:		17-30	5-12	8-9
			56.7%	41.7%	88.9%

Score by Periods	1st	2nd	Total
Albany	33	31	64	Record: (7-7)
Xavier	41	47	88	Record: (8-3)

Officials: Brent Hampton, John LaRocca, Kevin O'Connell Technical fouls: Albany-None. Xavier-None. Attendance: 10004

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