Ryan Welage hit a jumper and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions midway through the second half as host Xavier staved off a Detroit Mercy rally for a 69-55 nonconference victory Friday night in Cincinnati.
Quentin Goodin led all scorers with 22 points and Welage added 16 as the Musketeers (8-5) rebounded from a loss at Missouri on Tuesday with a decisive win.
Freshman Antoine Davis scored 19 points on just 8-for-24 shooting for the Titans (3-9), who lost their sixth straight.
After trailing by as many as nine points in the first half and 32-26 at the break, Detroit Mercy got within 42-40 with 13:18 to go on a layup by Josh McFolley.
Goodin hit three free throws sandwiching a jumper by Paul Scruggs to push the Xavier lead back to seven. And after Derrien King nailed a 3-pointer for the Titans, Welage connected on his back-to-back hoops, opening a 52-43 advantage with just 9:09 remaining.
The Titans were never closer than six the rest of the way.
Goodin's game-high total was the product of 6-for-12 shooting as Xavier outshot Detroit 44.0 percent to 32.4.
Goodin also made eight of 13 from the free-throw line.
Zach Hankins was a third Musketeer in double figures with 12 points.
Davis shot 3-for-13 on 3-pointers to account for almost half of his team-high point total for Detroit, which as a team connected on just six of 27.
King finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for the Titans, who have not beaten Xavier since March 1994.
--Field Level Media
Detroit Mercy | Xavier | |
Antoine Davis 19 | Scoring | Quentin Goodin 22 |
Josh McFolley 6 | Assists | Quentin Goodin 9 |
Derrien King 8 | Rebounds | Zach Hankins 11 |
Derrien King 2 | Free Throws Made | Quentin Goodin 8 |
Josh McFolley 4 | Steals | Quentin Goodin 3 |
N/A | Blocks | Zach Hankins 6 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Detroit Mercy | 55 | 32.4 | 6-27 | 5-9 | 10 | 33 | 0 | 11 | 12 |
Xavier | 69 | 44.0 | 8-19 | 17-23 | 20 | 40 | 9 | 6 | 16 |