NEW YORK (AP)—David West, obviously bothered by a sore right hand, had 18 points and a season-high 19 rebounds to lead Xavier to a 75-61 victory over Fordham on Saturday night, the Musketeers’ fifth straight win overall and 10th in a row over the Rams.
West, a preseason All-America, bruised the knuckles on his shooting hand in practice on Monday. He had 16 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Duquesne on Tuesday and followed that up with the big game against Fordham, finishing two rebounds short of his career high set against George Washington on Feb. 3, 2001.
Xavier (14-4, 5-1 Atlantic 10) took control of the game midway through the second half, holding the Rams (2-15, 1-5) to two field goals over the final 12:20.
Dedrick Finn had 17 points for the Musketeers, while Romain Sato added 16 and Anthony Myles 14.
Michael Haynes had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Fordham, which has lost five straight game and 15 of 16.
Haynes’ 3-pointer with 12:22 to play gave Fordham its last lead, 53-52. Sato had eight points in a 15-2 run by Xavier that made it 67-55 with 6:51 to play. West and Sato then each had four points in the Musketeers’ closing 8-3 run.
The 6-foot-9 West, who entered the game shooting 48.3 percent from the field, was 4-for-10 Saturday, but he was 10-for-12 from the free throw line. It was his fifth straight game with at least 11 rebounds and he had eight offensive against Fordham. The senior forward entered the game averaging 19.1 points and 11.7 rebounds.
Xavier shot 36.4 percent (24-for-66), just the fifth time this season it finished under 40 percent and the Musketeers lost three of those games.
Glenn Batemon added 15 points and eight rebounds for Fordham, which is 2-11 all-time against Xavier.
