The Xavier boys basketball team has been having a tough year, but Saturday afternoon the Saints got to smile as they edged West Des Moines Dowling, 63-58, in a non-conference game at Xavier.

“It was a big win for us,” Coach Matt Jenkins said. The Saints improved to 3-10. “It is good for our kids to have success.”

The game started bad for Dowling (9-5) right out of the gate when leading scorer Brad Chellen went down with an apparent ankle injury on the opening tip.

“He is our leading scoring averaging around 12 a game,” Coach Mike O’Connor said. “Losing him hurts, but there are no excuses (for the loss).”

After falling behind 14-10 after the first quarter, Xavier bounced back in the second quarter and led 27-24 at halftime. The Saints shot 60 percent in the third quarter to take a 40-34 lead.

The fourth quarter provided a frenzy of offense as both teams starting lighting it up. While Dowling started shooting the ball well and scoring they were forced to overplay the ball. Xavier handled the pressure and turned it into plenty of good shots to maintain its lead. The Saints then hit 9 of 11 free throws down the stretch to close the door on the Maroons.

Senior Mitch McLaughlin slammed the door shut with a pair of free throws with 2.4 second left that secured the Saints' victory.

“We were lucky enough to keep control and get the W,” Jenkins said.

Xavier shot 54 percent for the floor and 81 percent for the free throw line. While Dowling shot just 38 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the free throw line.

“We knocked down some really key free throws,” Jenkins said. “We were a little nervous but we have been hitting them lately.”

Ben McDermott led the Saints with 13. Alec Clasen added 11 and Kevin Hosch and Mack Mattke had 10 apiece. Dowling was lead by senior Alex Savage with 17.

“It was one of those nights,” O’Connor said. “We have to credit Xavier though; they keep hands in our face all game.”

Xavier will travel to Waterloo Tuesday to take on Waterloo West.

XAVIER (63): Mitch McLaughlin 3 2-2 9, Ben McDermott 4 2-2 13, Kevin Hosch 3 4-5 10, Alec Clasen 4 1-2 11, Ryan Mains 0 0-0 0, Nolan Dunkirk 1 0-0 2, Carter Valentine 4 0-0 8, Brian Ropp 0 0-0 0, Mack Mattke 4 0-0 10. Totals 23 9-11 63.

WDM DOWLING (58): Eric Lee 7 0-2 15, Amara Darboh 3 2-3 8, Alex Savage 5 4-4 17, Brad Chellen 0 0-0 0, Ben Boesen 4 0-5 8, Alex McMurray 2 0-0 6, Brody Adams 1 0-0 2, Matthew Haack 1 0-1 2, Totals 23 6-15 58.

Halftime – Xavier 27, Dowling 24. 3-point goals – Xavier 8 (McLaughlin, McDermott 3, Clasen 2, Mattke 2), Dowling 6 (Lee, Savage 3, McMurray 2).