The Xavier Musketeers stole a game against the Florida Gators men’s basketball team tonight in the O’Dome. I never would have thought the Gators would lose this game, especially playing it at home. But once again, the Gators couldn’t hit a free throw to save their lives and it cost them another game. The Gators are now 17-8 and with only 6 games remaining, their chances of making the tourney are looking very slim.

The Gators were trailing big in the first half, but managed to fight their way back into the game and tied it up with 13 minutes left in the second half. The final score of the game was 64-76, but it was a lot closer than that at the end… the Gators were within 3 points with just about 3 minutes left in the game. Xavier the Gators tough on defense. They out-rebounded us, had more blocks and forced more turnovers.

Vermon Macklin played well – notching his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Gators were led in scoring by Chandler Parsons with 15, followed by Kenny Boynton with 12 and Erving Walker with 11. Walker didn’t play as well as he had been the past few games. He was only 3-10 from the field and 1-5 from beyond the arc; he did have 8 assists though.

Like I said above, time is running out for this squad. They’ll have to beat Tennessee and Kentucky if they want a shot at the Tourney come March. Florida will resume conference play Thurs., Feb. 18, when it plays host to Auburn University in the O’Connell Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be nationally broadcast on ESPN.