Friar Basketball

Friars Win Their 5th Straight

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In front of a nearly sold out Dunkin’ Donuts Center the Providence College Friars completed a home sweep of the three newest Big East schools with an 81-72 victory over the Xavier Musketeers.

LaDontae Henton supplied Ed Cooley with his strongest performance of the season while Bryce Cotton continued to show why he is one of the best players in the country. Cotton’s 25 points and 7 assists were both game highs.

In a first half where PC shot just 29% from the field, Henton carried the load, scoring 11 points and snagging 8 rebounds. He finished the game with 23 and 11. Both school’s top players struggled to find the basket in the first frame as Cotton managed to shoot just 2 for 8 from the field and Xavier’s Semaj Christon found the basket only once. After Henton converted on a layup with 12:11 left in the first, PC took a one point lead and never looked back. The Friars brought a four point lead with them into the intermission.

The second half featured 17 points out of Cotton but Xavier never stopped fighting. Christon found his rhythm and wound up finishing with 18 points for the game. The only near scare for PC came during the game’s final five minutes. Xavier head coach, Chris Mack, applied a full court press that slightly rattled the guard thin Friars. Several turnovers by Josh Fortune allowed easy baskets for the Musketeers, allowing them to trim the lead to four with 1:48 left to play. That was the closest they would come.

On an afternoon which featured Henton and Cotton leading the way, Carson Desrosiers quietly had himself a great game defensively. Although Xavier dominated Providence in the paint, 46-24, Desrosiers kept it from getting any worst. His six blocks tied his career high as a member of the Friars. He also pulled down 7 rebounds.

Providence College now holds a 15-5 record, 5-2 in conference, and is now just one game back of Creighton for first place in the Big East. It is truly amazing how much this five game winning streak has lifted the heads of many fans who thought this was yet another lost season. A lot of credit goes to Ed Cooley and his coaching staff for keeping this team focused. Secondly, not enough can be said about Bryce Cotton, he has now scored over twenty points in thirteen of PC’s twenty games. On night’s where he didn’t reach twenty, he finished with double-figures in every game but one.

Next up for the Friars will be a matchup with Marquette on Thursday, January 30th.

Email Craig Belhumeur – craig.belhumeur@friarbasketball.com
Craig on Twitter – @Craig_Belhumeur

 

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