CINCINNATI (AP) - Brad Redford sank both ends of a bonus free throw situation with 37.1 seconds left and Xavier held on for a 61-59 win over pesky Robert Morris on Saturday.
Redford, previously scoreless for the game, was fouled by Lucky Jones after a ball fake in the corner and made both free throws. The Colonials (1-3) called two timeouts after regaining possession, but Karvel Anderson missed a 3-pointer from the left wing with 12 seconds left.
Robert Morris maintained possession after a held ball, but Velton Jones couldn't connect on a leaner and Coron Williams missed a desperation 3-pointer as he was falling out of bounds.
Justin Martin scored a career-high 17 points and Dee Davis added 15 for the Musketeers (3-0).
Freshman Semaj Christon, who set Xavier's single-game freshman assist record with eight in the Musketeers' 62-47 win over Butler on Tuesday, finished with 12 and a team-high six assists in just his second career game and first start. Christon missed Xavier's opener while recovering from an infection.
Martin, who scored a combined 21 points in Xavier's first two games, was 6 of 9 from the field, including a career-high four 3-pointers in six tries.
The Musketeers overcame a season-high 15 turnovers to go 3-0 for the fifth straight season and improved to 4-0 in their series against Robert Morris (1-3).
Anderson led the upset-minded Colonials with a career-high 17 points. Velton Jones added 15 for Robert Morris.
Xavier led by as many as eight points, 43-35, on a Jeff Robinson dunk with 15:48 left in the game, but the Colonials came back to tie the score twice in the final 3:49, the second at 59-59 on a jumper by Velton Jones with 1:51 left in the game.
The Colonials, who made just 16 of 70 3-pointers over their first three games, sank their first five and 6 of 9 in the first half, and led 19-17 with 12:28 left before halftime. Xavier countered by shooting a sizzling 65 percent (13 of 20) from the field to lead by as many as seven, 26-19, with 8:31 left before settling for a 36-31 halftime advantage on Davis's 3-pointer with 1 second left.
The Musketeers never trailed after Christon's driving layup gave them a 21-19 lead with 11:01 left in the first half.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| Robert Morris (1-3) | 31 | 28 | 59 |
| Xavier (3-0) « | 36 | 25 | 61 |
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| Robert Morris Colonials | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| R. Johnson, F | 26 | 3-10 | 2-2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| M. McFadden, F | 23 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| L. Jones, G | 30 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| V. Jones, G | 30 | 5-10 | 2-2 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 15 |
| C. Williams, G | 23 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| K. Anderson | 23 | 7-13 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| S. Hawkins | 18 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Myers-Pate | 17 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| V. Morgan | 10 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 23-56 | 4-4 | 28 | 17 | 17 | 59 | |
| 41.1% | 100% | ||||||
| Xavier Musketeers | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. Martin, F | 37 | 6-9 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| J. Robinson, F | 33 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| T. Taylor, F | 33 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| D. Davis, G | 35 | 6-10 | 1-2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| S. Christon, G | 30 | 4-7 | 4-6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| B. Redford | 18 | 0-5 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| E. Stenger | 14 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-42 | 11-17 | 27 | 10 | 11 | 61 | |
| 52.4% | 64.7% | ||||||
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