Shorthanded Friars Fall to Xavier, Kim English Ejected

The Providence College men’s basketball team was defeated by the Xavier Musketeers (15-10, 7-7 BIG EAST), 91-82, on Wednesday, February 12 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. The Friars moved to 11-14 overall and 5-9 in BIG EAST play. Justyn Fernandez (Richmond, Va.) and Bensley Joseph (Arlington, Mass.) led the way with 15 points each. Freshman Ryan Mela (Natick, Mass.) added 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, marking his second double-double of his rookie season. Freshman Oswin Erhunmwunse (Benin City, Nigeria) recorded a career-best 14 points on the night highlighted by a 7-7 effort from the field.

“It was a tough loss for our group as we are still battling some absences,” said Head Coach Kim English. “We started the game doing some things well on both sides of the ball, and I thought Nate did a great job finishing the game. We need to keep fighting to get better and give ourselves a chance to win some more games down the stretch.”

FIRST HALF:

• Erhunmwunse kicked off the night’s scoring with a layup in the team’s first possession.

• The Friars jumped out to an eleven-point lead (16-5) that was spearheaded by Fernandez, who reached double-digits in scoring in the first five minutes of action (12 points). The redshirt-sophomore capped off a 4-5 effort from the field, going 3-3 from behind the arc.

• Xavier took its first lead of the game midway through the half following a 16-2 run. The Friars trailed 30-23 at the 7:52 mark.

• The Friars trailed 45-30 at the half, failing to score in the final 4:55.

SECOND HALF:

• Jayden Pierre (Elizabeth, N.J) started the team’s second-half scoring with a layup.

• The Musketeers continued to dominate for much of the half, with a 23-13 scoring run by the 12:39 mark.

• The Friars found a spark, netting five of their last seven attempts as Pierre scored in the paint to prompt a Xavier timeout with 9:23 remaining. Friars trailed 72-54.

• PC maintained its momentum, extending its run to 13-1 over three minutes, including a 9-0 stretch in the final 1:40. The Friars had hit six of their last eight field goals to close the gap to 10 points (73-63) with seven minutes remaining.

• The Friars held the Musketeers without field goals over a seven-minute stretch.

• PC was unable to regain the lead and fell 91-82.

• Providence completed four of their last four shots.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Five players finished in double figures for the Friars: Joseph (15), Fernandez (15), Erhunmwunse (14), Mela (13) and Pierre (13).

Xavier’s Dante Maddox Jr scored a game-high 26 points.

The Friars outscored Xavier 52-46 in the second half.

Mela recorded his second career double-double with 13 points 10 rebounds.

Erhunmwunse scored a career-high 14 points for the Friars.

NOTES:

The Friars have now registered a 12-15 mark all-time versus Xavier, including an 8-4 record at home.

UP NEXT:

The Friars will continue home play at the AMP when they take on the Villanova Wildcats (15-10, 8-6 BIG EAST) on Saturday, Feb. 15 in Providence, R.I.

Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m. on CBSSN.