Saints boys hold off Prairie
The first half was run and gun and the second half was much more methodical, but the result was a 56-51 Xavier victory in Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball at Prairie Friday night.
Both teams were putting up points in the first half. It was 19-19 at the quarter and Xavier led 35-29 at the half, forging their margin in the last two minutes of the half. In the second half defense improved and the pace slowed and while Prairie actually outscored Xavier, it wasn’t by enough.
“Prairie really made it hard on us in the second half. We really struggled to maintain our lead; we just had to weather the storm,” said Xavier Coach Matt Jenkins.
That was the case as Prairie (3-15, 2-11 MVC) managed to cut the lead to 48-46 at one point in the fourth quarter. Down the stretch, Xavier (5-14, 4-10) maintained its composure in a loud road environment and the Hawks missed four critical free throws that cooled their comeback effort.
Last Updated on Saturday, 12 February 2011 01:38