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St. Louis • Weber State's chance to upset heavily favored Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's East Regional on Friday night came down to a hard-luck stretch midway through the second half.
Trailing by nine, the Wildcats had two jump shots rattle in and out of the basket. Xavier took full advantage of its good fortune, too, and ran away from Weber State in the final minutes.
In the end, James Farr scored 18 points and Jalen Reynolds added 12 to lead the No. 2-seeded Musketeers to a 71-53 victory over the 15th-seeded Wildcats at the Scottrade Center.
Senior forward Joel Bolomboy led Weber State with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but Xavier improved to 28-5 and moved on to the second round Sunday, when it plays Wisconsin.
The Wildcats ended 26-9.
"I can't be more proud of our team and what they accomplished this year," coach Randy Rahe said. "We battled. We fought. That's what we've done all year. We were right there."
It was 54-45 when freshman McKay Cannon's 3-point shot rimmed out of the basket. It was 56-47 when Jeremy Senglin broke free for one of his few open looks and had an 18-footer rattle out.
"… We got a couple of stops but we had a couple of shots that were in and came out," Rahe said. "If those had stayed in, we might have grabbed a little momentum and really made it exciting down the stretch."
Instead, Xavier turned up the heat on defense and held Weber State to only four points over the final eight minutes. Overall, the Wildcats shot 36.6 percent from the field, including an uncharacteristic 4 for 21 from the 3-point line.
Senglin, a junior guard who was Weber State's leading scorer this season, finished with seven points. He missed eight of his 11 shots and didn't score a field goal until the opening minute of the second half.
"They weren't going to let Jeremy breathe," Rahe said. "They were everywhere he went. They weren't going to let Jeremy beat them and you've got to tip your hat to them. … They've got a great team. A great team. They have the ingredients to be special."
Said Bolomboy: "It's not a good feeling to lose. But, looking back, I've had a great career. I've been on many great teams and I've embraced it. I've enjoyed everything."
Weber State, the Big Sky regular season and tournament champion, was making its second NCAA appearance in the past three years.
It never led against Xavier.
The Musketeers hit two of their first three shots and owned a 5-0 lead before Bolomboy spun away from a double-team, beat the defense to the baseline and threw down a monster dunk.
With 15:58 left in the first half, Bolomboy made one free throw to narrow Xavier's lead to 8-6. But the Wildcats then began to struggle against the Musketeer defense.
Weber went 10 straight possessions without scoring — a stretch that lasted almost six minutes — and Xavier used a 13-0 run to build a 21-6 lead.
Late in the half, Weber State scored six straight points and got as close as 27-20. But an offensive foul — one of three called on the Wildcats in the opening 19 minutes — slowed their momentum and helped Xavier get to the locker room with a 34-23 lead and, eventually, a victory.
"We've had one hell of a season," Rahe said.
Twitter: @sluhm —
Storylines
R James Farr scores 18 points and grabs 15 rebounds to lead Xavier to a 71-53 win over Weber State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Senior forward Joel Bolomboy finishes with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who were seeded 15th in the East Regional.
• Xavier outscores Weber State, 15-4, over the last eight minutes.