Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Rotnei Clarke led all scorers with 21
points as the Butler Bulldogs came from behind to defeat the Xavier Bulldogs,
67-62, in the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season finale at Hinkle
Fieldhouse.
Although Clarke shot just 5-of-14 from the field, he made all eight of his
free-throw attempts for Butler (24-7, 11-5), which has won two in a row on the
heels of two straight losses. Kameron Woods came off the bench to chip in 15
points for the home team.
For Xavier (17-13, 9-7), Semaj Christon tallied 20 points and five assists,
while Isaiah Philmore had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The
Musketeers head into the A-10 Tournament having lost two of three.
After a back-and-forth first half, Andrew Smith made a jumper with four
seconds left in the stanza to give Butler a 26-25 advantage heading into
intermission. Neither team shot greater than 36 percent from the floor in the
opening 20 minutes.
Although the Bulldogs held a 10-point lead with under 11 minutes left in the
game, Xavier ripped off a 17-3 run to take a four-point advantage with five
and a half minutes to go. After the teams exchanges a handful of ties and
leads, Butler snapped a 60-60 tie with 43 seconds left on a pair of Kellen
Dunham free throws with 43 seconds remaining to take the lead for good. The
Bulldogs held on by shooting 7-of-8 from the foul line in the final minute.
Butler's bench outscored Xavier's reserves, 36-13.
GAME NOTES:
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