Detroit Mercy Titans vs Xavier Musketeers Box Score on Dec 21, 2018

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