Malik Messina-Moore led a balanced attack with 17 points as sharp-shooting Xavier fended off an upset bid from Le Moyne, winning 74-69 Thursday at Cincinnati.
Roddie Anderson III added 15 points, Tre Carroll scored 11 and Filip Borovicanin had 12 rebounds for Xavier (2-0), which allowed all nine players who entered the game to score.
Trent Mosquera scored 20 points to lead Le Moyne (1-1). Deng Garang added 15, Jakai Sanders scored 13 and Ametri Moss had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Dolphins.
Trailing 67-60 with three minutes remaining, Le Moyne launched another push, highlighted by a three-point basket from Moss with 2:34 remaining, which cut the lead to three. The Dolphins had a chance to cut the lead to three again, but Shilo Jackson missed two free throws with 2:02 remaining.
Xavier took a 48-38 lead on a three from Carroll just two minutes into the second half before Le Moyne immediately responded with a 9-3 spurt to tie the game at four.
The Dolphins closed to within 61-55 with 6:52 to play, but Anderson dunked and Messina-Moore drove the lane for a layup, cutting the lead to 10.
Deng Garang made a 3-pointer with 4:14 left to close the Dolphins within 65-60, but Le Moyne couldn’t maintain momentum in the second half to overtake the Musketeers, in part due to 18 turnovers.
Le Moyne took a 19-12 lead just eight minutes later, thanks to three triples from Mosquera and five straight points from Jackson.
The Musketeers then found the margin from beyond the arc, hitting five 3-pointers as part of a 25-11 run that put them ahead, 37-30.
Xavier finished the first half going 11 of 17 from long range, highlighted by Messina-Moore. The Montana transfer connected on 4 of 6 from distance as part of a 14-point first half.
The Dolphins stayed in the game thanks to Mosquera’s 11 first-half points and a 22-6 advantage in the paint. Le Moyne finished the first 20 minutes by making 7 of 9 of his last shots on the field and trailed 43-36 at halftime.
–Field level media
