Jan 11, 2004

Box Score

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) - Romain Sato scored 22 points and Lionel Chalmers added 21 to lead Xavier to an 81-67 win over Rhode Island on Sunday.

It was the ninth straight win for Xavier (9-4) over Rhode Island (12-4).

Rhode Island was within 54-49 after three foul shots by Brian Woodward with 13:03 to play, but Sato and Chalmers nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to boost the Xavier lead to 60-49. And Xavier kept the advantage in double digits for the rest of the game.

Sato came into the game averaging 25 points per game against Rhode Island in his career, and had 14 in the second half.

Anthony Myles added 15 points and nine rebounds for Xavier and Justin Doellman chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Dawan Robinson led Rhode Island with 23 points.

Rhode Island ran off 14 unanswered points during a first-half stretch and held Xavier without a field goal for nearly eight minutes, but still trailed 39-31 at the break.

Lionel Chalmers, who scored 10 first-half points, had a steal and dunk to push the Xavier lead to 37-31 late in the half. Two Keith Jackson foul shots with 27 seconds left in the half gave Xavier the eight-point edge.