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Xavier ends regular season with win over Billikens

Mar 6, 2011 - 2:09 AM St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Tu Holloway scored a game-high 25 points to help the 23rd-ranked Xavier Musketeers close out the regular season with a 66-55 victory over the Saint Louis Billikens.

Mark Lyons added 16 points for the Musketeers (24-6, 15-1 A-10), who captured their fifth consecutive A-10 regular season title by one game over Temple.

"We didn't want to share a championship," said Holloway. "We wanted to win it outright."

Kenny Frease tallied 10 points and 12 boards for Xavier, which will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. The Musketeers have won nine straight games and 16 of their last 17.

Brian Conklin finished with 14 points for the Billikens (12-18, 6-10), who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Mike McCall added 13 points in defeat.

Lyons' three-pointer with 13:24 remaining in the first half gave Xavier an early 12-3 lead.

The Musketeers maintained around a 10-point margin throughout the half and took a 31-21 advantage into the locker room.

Conklin's jumper and Jordair Jett's three-point play got the Billikens within three, 45-42, with 9:44 to play.

But Xavier responded with a 10-2 run to essentially put the game away. Holloway tallied six points during the spurt, including a three-pointer to make it 55-44 with 6:09 left.

Saint Louis never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Game Notes

The Musketeers hold a 28-12 edge in the all-time series and have won seven straight over the Billikens...Xavier went 22-of-28 from the foul line, while Saint Louis went 9-of-14 from the charity stripe.