CINCINNATI, OH – All-BIG EAST Preseason Third Team selection Ryan Conwell led four double figure scorers with 16 points for Xavier which defeated Siena Basketball 80-55 in a Fort Myers Tip-Off campus site game in front of 10,067 at the Cintas Center.
 
Conwell, who entered play ranked 11^th nationally averaging 4.0 made threes, equaled his average while shooting 4-5 from distance for Xavier (5-0), who is third amongst teams also receiving votes in this week's Associated Press Top-25 Poll. Reserve Trey Green added 14 points on four threes of his own for the Musketeers, who shot 51% from the field including 46% (11-24) from three. Xavier began the day 16^th nationally in three-point percentage (.429).
 
Newcomer Reid Ducharme, who played in five games as a true freshman at Xavier last year, broke out with a collegiate career-high 15-point performance for Siena (3-2), which has lost 27 straight true road games at high-major opponents. The only Saint to score in double figures in all five games thus far, Major Freeman contributed 12 points.
 
Siena scored seven straight early in the first half to pull within 16-15, but the Musketeers responded with the next eight and incrementally built their lead from there. Xavier shot 57% from the field including 8-13 from three in the opening half to claim a 44-26 lead at the break.
 
The Saints got no closer than 13 early in the second half as the Musketeers led for more than 37 minutes and by as many as 27 to win their fifth straight at the Cintas Center to open the season.
 
Siena held its own physically on the interior against a bigger, beefier Xavier squad, registering a season-high 11 blocks while also holding a 20-4 advantage in free throw attempts.
 
Marcus Foster (12 points) and All-BIG EAST Preseason Second Team selection Zach Freemantle (10) also scored in double figures for the Musketeers, which held a 33-4 advantage in fast break scoring. Xavier, which entered the day ranked fifth nationally in assists (21.3) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.18), excelled in those categories once again to the tune of 24 assists to just nine turnovers.
 
Siena continues play in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, which shifts on-site in the Sunshine State with a pair of Palms Division contests next week. The Saints next face a second straight Buckeye State opponent when they take on Miami (Ohio) Monday at 11 a.m. in Fort Myers, Florida.