ATLANTIC CITY, March 9 — It has been said that if Xavier made the finals of the Atlantic 10 Championship, they would be all but guaranteed a trip to the NCAA.
Now, they will have to wait and see. Rhode Island, the fourth seed in this tournament, upset the top-seeded Musketeers XX-XX in the semifinals here at Boardwalk Hall on New Jersey’s Atlantic coast.
The Rams’ Kaheem Seawright and Jimmy Baron led the way in the win with 17 points a piece while Parfait Bittee had 11. Xavier got 18 from Drew Lavender and 13 from Justin Doellman. Doellman was slowed down by two first-half fouls.
The Rhode Island team led by Lamar Odom won the 1999 tournament.