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Xavier continues mastery of Fordham

Jan 11, 2009 - 9:41 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- B.J. Raymond paced six players in double figures with 20 points Sunday as 18th-ranked Xavier continued its domination of Fordham with an 86-60 victory.

Raymond made three 3-pointers in the first half, helping the Musketeers (13-2, 2-0 A-10) build a 45-30 halftime lead.

Xavier then withstood a surge by Fordham at the start of the second half to improve to 15-1 against the Rams since the schools became Atlantic-10 Conference rivals in the 1995-96 season.

The Musketeers posted their fourth straight victory since back-to-back losses to Duke and Butler.

Fordham opened the second half with an 18-4 spurt, closing within 49-48 on Mike Moore's 3-pointer with 15:25 remaining.

However, the Musketeers never relinquished the lead and regained control with a 10-0 run. Brad Redford's 3-pointer made it 59-48 with 12:53 to play.

Xavier erupted after Fordham closed within one point, outscoring the Rams 37-12 over the final 15 2 minutes.

Derrick Brown scored 14 points and Jason Love contributed 13 for the Musketeers. Terrell Holloway and Brad Redford scored 11 apiece and C. Anderson added 10.

Alberto Estwick scored 20 points for Fordham (2-12, 0-2), which suffered its fifth straight loss.

Xavier torched the Rams by shooting a season-high 54 percent from the field (28-of-52), including 9-of-17 from 3-point range, and dominated the boards by a 45-29 margin.

Raymond (6-of-11) and Brown (6-of-13) were a combined 12-of-24 from the field.

The Rams stayed close early, pulling within 26-22 on a 3-pointer by Trey Blue with 6:33 remaining in the first half.

However, Brown's layup ignited an 11-0 spurt for the Musketeers over the next two minutes. Xavier built a 37-22 lead on Dante Jackson's two free throws with 4:10 left in the half.