Field Level Media
Dec 18, 2019
Quentin Goodin had a career-high 25 points and tied a career-high with four 3-pointers, as the host Xavier Musketeers overcame the absence of leading scorer Naji Marshall for a 74-61 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts on Wednesday in Cincinnati as part of the Skip Prosser Classic.
Jason Carter had a season-high 16 points, and Zach Freemantle had 13 points. Tyrique Jones had six points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six assists for the Musketeers (10-2), who pulled way in the final 10 minutes to remain undefeated in eight home games this season.
Cincinnati native Kameron Gibson had season highs of 16 points and four 3-pointers, and Mason Faulkner had 14 points and six assists for the Catamounts (7-3), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Gibson hit three treys, and Onno Steger had one as the Catamounts took their largest lead, 50-43, five minutes into the second half. Faulkner's 3-pointer with 13 minutes left kept the lead at six before the Musketeers rallied and pulled away.
Jones and Freemantle had four points apiece, and Carter hit a 3-pointer to cap an 18-2 run for a 67-57 lead with four minutes left. The Catamounts went 6:19 without scoring and had only two points in a span of 10:08.
Xavier shot a season-high 49.1 percent from the field and had a 40-29 rebounding edge. Goodin was 9 of 11 from the field, making all four of his 3-point attempts, and Carter made both of his 3s as the Musketeers were 8 of 17 from distance. They entered the game making 28.0 percent from distance, which ranked 325th among 350 Division I schools.
Marshall missed the game with an undisclosed illness. He did not attend the shootaround and was not on the floor for pregame warmups. He leads the team with a 16.9 scoring average and has 5.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Skip Prosser coached at Xavier and Wake Forest. His son, Mark Prosser, is in his second year as the Catamounts head coach.
--Field Level Media