ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Tu Holloway scored 21 points and Kenny Frease grabbed a big rebound and made two late free throws as Xavier advanced to the Atlantic 10 title game with a 71-64 victory over Saint Louis on Saturday.
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Freshman Dezmine Wells added 18 points and Mark Lyons had 14 for the third-seeded Musketeers (21-11), who will face fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure (19-11) Sunday for the league's automatic NCAA berth. The Bonnies beat eighth-seeded Massachusetts 84-80 in the first semifinal at Boardwalk Hall.
Xavier, which has been to six straight NCAA tournaments, won the earlier meeting this season 77-64.
Brian Conklin had 14 points for Saint Louis (25-7), which certainly will get its first NCAA bid since Rick Majerus became coach in 2007-08. The Billikens were last in the tournament in 2000.
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| Jordair Jett draws the foul, but Dezmine Wells has the last word, scoring 18 points in Xavier's victory. (US Presswire) |
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| Xavier (21-11) « | 29 | 42 | 71 |
| Saint Louis (25-7) | 23 | 41 | 64 |
| XAVIER:T. Holloway 21 Pts XAVIER:M. Lyons 6 Reb XAVIER:T. Holloway 3 Ast |
STLOU:B. Conklin 14 Pts STLOU:D. Evans 8 Reb STLOU:K. Mitchell 9 Ast |
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| PLAYERS OF THE GAME | |||||
| Xavier | Saint Louis | ||||
 Tu Holloway |  Kwamain Mitchell | ||||
| Pts | Rebs | Ast | Pts | Rebs | Ast |
| 21 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 9 |
| Xavier Musketeers | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| T. Holloway, G | 39 | 6-14 | 6-6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
| M. Lyons, G | 39 | 5-9 | 2-2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| D. Wells, G-F | 34 | 6-8 | 6-6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 18 |
| A. Walker, F | 30 | 2-6 | 1-3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| K. Frease, C | 27 | 3-6 | 3-4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| T. Taylor, F | 12 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| J. Robinson, F | 11 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| J. Martin, F | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| D. Davis, G | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| B. Redford, G | Did Not Play | ||||||
| G. McKenzie, F | Did Not Play | ||||||
| G. Dougan, G | Did Not Play | ||||||
| Totals | 24-45 | 18-21 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 71 | |
| 53.3% | 85.7% | ||||||
| Complete Box Score | |||||||
| Saint Louis Billikens | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| K. Mitchell, G | 35 | 3-14 | 2-2 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 10 |
| B. Conklin, F | 29 | 4-9 | 6-9 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 |
| D. Evans, F | 26 | 5-8 | 1-1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| M. McCall Jr., G | 24 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| R. Loe, F | 22 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. Jett, G | 33 | 4-7 | 3-5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| C. Ellis, F | 25 | 3-4 | 2-3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| K. Cassity, G | 3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Remekun, F | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Barnett, F | Did Not Play | ||||||
| B. Daly, G | Did Not Play | ||||||
| G. Gehlen, F | Did Not Play | ||||||
| J. Manning, C | Did Not Play | ||||||
| G. Glaze, F | Did Not Play | ||||||
| Totals | 22-54 | 14-20 | 23 | 14 | 18 | 64 | |
| 40.7% | 70.0% | ||||||
| Complete Box Score | |||||||
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Video: Recap