It is still early but the 2013-2014 edition of Saint Xavier University Men’s Basketball team looks like a well-oiled machine so far this season.
The team competed in the Trinity Christian College Classic this past weekend and blew their competition out of the gym.
The team won both games they played by double-digits on their way to a 4-0 record.
Their first game was against the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) on Friday night and the Cougars came out victorious. They led by as many as 20 points on their way to an 84-73 win.
Saint Francis scored the first two points of the game but that would turn out to be their only lead of the night. The Cougars responded with a 9-0 run and led 42-37 at the half.
Saint Francis tried to keep it close, but the Cougars went on a 17-2 run in the second half to make the score 65-45. Saint Francis could not recover from this huge deficit.
The Cougars were led by their combination of seniors Brad Karp and Michael Simpson.
Simpson led the Cougars with 28 points and he also took care of the ball, finishing the game with only two turnovers.
Karp also had a big game, finishing with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Karp led the team in steals and the Cougars as a whole played excellent defense forcing 18 turnovers on the night.
Sophomore forward Josh Mawhorr played well and chipped in 11 points and five rebounds for the Cougars.
The next game was against Great Lakes Chrisitian College of Michigan and the Cougars pounced on them quickly.
Before Great Lakes Christian could blink, SXU jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening moments of the game and built an insurmountable 68-36 halftime lead.
SXU continued to dominate in the second half and cruised to a 108-68 victory to finish the Classic undefeated.
Karp led all scorers in the 40-point annihilation with 29 points on 12 for 16 shooting from the field and seven rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.
Simpson had another excellent performance with 17 points on 6 for 9 shooting from the floor, four assists, and four steals. Sophomore forward Tony Core had 10 points off of 5 for 6 shooting.
Junior forward Brandon Marren came off the bench to snag seven rebound and chipped in 14 points.
The Cougars had every player score a point in Saturday’s victory and played well on defense, again forcing 29 turnovers on the night.
The team will get thier first true test of the season when they play No. 1-ranked Cardinal Stritch University on the road Wednesday, Nov. 20.
Damone Griffin
Sports Editor