PHILADELPHIA, Pa. u2012 It looked and felt more stressful than it likely needed to be, but when the final buzzer sounded on Saturday afternoon at Finneran Pavilion, Xavier's men's basketball team was on the winning side, 88-80, securing a ninth straight win, a 5-0 start in Big East Conference play, and the first road win at Villanova since the 1955-56 season.
Xavier held a 61-57 lead with 6:02 to play when Zach Freemantle exploded and scored eight straight points u2012 including two 3-pointers u2012 to push the lead to 69-60.
Freemantle added another deep jumper to finish with a game-high 29 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in what may have been the best single-game performance of his Xavier career.