SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Josh Duncan sank his free throws, hit his jump shots, nailed his layups and buried his 3-pointers. He's one of the dependable upperclassmen who have helped Xavier pull out tough road victories all season.
Duncan came off the bench to score 23 points on a perfect night of shooting, fellow senior Drew Lavender hit a big 3-pointer in the second half, and No. 10 Xavier withstood a furious rally by Rhode Island to defeat the Rams 81-77 on Monday.
Xavier (22-4, 10-1 Atlantic 10 Conference) extended its winning streak to eight, with the Musketeers winning their past four games -- three of them on the road -- by four or fewer points. They have won five straight on the road and 14 of their past 15 overall.
Duncan didn't miss a shot, connecting on four free throws, three 3-pointers and eight field goals overall. It mirrored his most recent performance at Charlotte last Wednesday, when he scored 25 points on 7-of-7 shooting to lead Xavier to a 62-60 victory.
"I'm just playing with confidence, I guess," he said. "The couple times I've been open, just trying to be confident when I shoot -- along with everybody else on the team."
B.J. Raymond added 14 points for Xavier, and Jason Love had eight points and nine rebounds.
The Musketeers increased their lead in the A-10 with the victory. Saint Joseph's, which entered Monday in second with a 7-3 conference record, lost to La Salle 90-89.
Parfait Bitee scored 25 points and Will Daniels added 23 for Rhode Island (20-6, 6-5). Kahiem Seawright pulled down 10 of Rhode Island's 29 rebounds. The loss snapped the Rams' 11-game home winning streak and was their third in four games.
Xavier used a 19-9 surge late in the first half to take a 44-34 lead into halftime after being up by as many as 14 with less than four minutes to play. The Musketeers dominated the Rams inside in the first half, scoring 20 points in the paint and holding a 17-11 rebounding advantage.
But Rhode Island outrebounded Xavier in a second half that featured four ties and six lead changes.
"We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole in the first half," Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said. "They stepped up and hit some shots, made some big plays. We fought back. I thought our kids did a great job fighting back, taking the lead."
The Rams opened the second half with a 26-16 run. Lamonte Ulmer's jumper put Rhode Island in front with 7:59 left but Duncan hit a 3 to give Xavier a 60-59 lead.
The Rams tied it on an Ulmer free throw before giving up the lead for good on a long-range jumper by Stanley Burrell, another senior, with 5:48 left to play.
A 3-pointer by Daniels with four seconds left got Rhode Island within three, but Lavender hit one of two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining.
Xavier succeeded in shutting down Jimmy Baron, the coach's son and a normally dependable shooting threat for Rhode Island. Baron was 0-for-7 from the field, finishing with two points on a pair of second-half free throws.
"Defensively, that's what I do," Duncan said. "Coming out, I try my best to pitch a shutout every night."
Rhode Island hit 19 of 27 free throws.
Rhode Island last defeated a ranked opponent on Dec. 2, 1998, when the Rams beat then-No. 25 Utah 70-63. Rhode Island defeated Xavier the last time the teams played, a 79-71 victory last year in the semifinals of the A-10 conference tournament.
