Malik Messina-Moore led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points as sharp-shooting Xavier fended off an upset bid from Le Moyne, prevailing 74-69 on Thursday in Cincinnati.
Roddie Anderson III added 15 points, Tre Carroll scored 11 and Filip Borovicanin hauled in 12 rebounds for Xavier (2-0), which had all nine players who entered the game score.
Trent Mosquera put up 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 left, Le Moyne mounted one more push, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Moss with 2:34 left that cut the deficit to three. The Dolphins had a chance to slice the lead to three again, but Shilo Jackson missed a pair of free throws with 2:02 remaining.
Xavier took a 48-38 lead on a Carroll trey just two minutes into the second half before Le Moyne answered immediately with a 9-3 spurt to draw within four.
The Dolphins got within 61-55 with 6:52 remaining, but Anderson dunked and Messina-Moore drove the lane for a layup, pushing the lead back to 10.
Deng Garang drained a 3-pointer with 4:14 left to close the Dolphins within 65-60, but Le Moyne could not sustain any second-half momentum to overtake the Musketeers, due in part to 18 turnovers.
Le Moyne raced out to a 19-12 lead just eight minutes in, thanks to three treys from Mosquera and five straight points from Jackson.
The Musketeers then found the range 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 11-for-17 from long range, highlighted by Messina-Moore. The Montana transfer connected on 4 of 6 from long distance as part of a 14-point first half.
The Dolphins stayed in the game thanks to 11 first-half points from Mosquera and a 22-6 advantage in the paint. Le Moyne finished the first 20 minutes by connecting on 7 of 9 its last shots from the field and trailed 43-36 at the half.
–Field Level Media
