Xavier gets past scrappy La Salle

But the third-year men's basketball coach could not ignore the contributions - positive and negative - of the Explorers' underclassmen in a surprisingly competitive game against the Atlantic Ten regular season champions.

"I thought we played hard, and we played well against a Xavier team that is poised to make a run in the NCAA tournament," Giannini said. "I thought the gap was not that large, and it's one that we can close over time."

While Xavier (23-7 overall, 13-3 league) has rounded into form with eight consecutive victories and owns the top seed heading into this week's A-10 tournament, the Explorers (10-20, 3-13) may have given their fans a glimpse of better days to come at Tom Gola Arena.

Deploying an aggressive 2-3 zone defense that had the veteran Musketeers struggling for decent shots in the early going, La Salle built a 38-32 halftime lead. The bulk of the Explorers' offense came from junior guard Darnell Harris and four freshmen - guards Ruben Guillandeaux and Rodney Green and forwards Brian Grimes and Yves Mekongo Mbala.

The group produced 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists over the first 20 minutes, and consecutive backdoor layups by Green ballooned La Salle's advantage to nine points with 5 minutes, 6 seconds to go before intermission.

On the flip side, recent A-10 Player of the Week Drew Lavender and team scoring leader Justin Doellman combined to shoot just 5 for 14 from the field and score just 13 points for the heavily favored Musketeers.

A three-point basket by Justin Cage (11 points) midway through the second half put Xavier ahead to stay.

Lavender, a 5-foot, 7-inch dynamo, and fellow junior guard Stanley Burrell finished as the game's leading scorers with 18 points apiece.

After Doellman went to the bench with his fourth personal foul, La Salle twice had opportunities to cut into a five-point deficit. But after Burrell's jumper pushed the Musketeers' cushion to 68-61 with 2:19 to go, the Explorers' inexperience cost them.