The game and the season ended quickly for Marquette Thursday when the Warriors lost 92-82 to St. Louis in the first round of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament.
Melvin Robinson, the 7-foot St. Louis sophomore, scored six of his 24 points in the first two minutes and the Billikens surged to leads of 11-0, 19-5 and 26-7 as they advanced to Friday`s semifinal against Loyola.
No. 1 seed Xavier, the MCC champion, will face No. 4 seed Dayton in Friday`s all-Ohio semifinal. Xavier, fueled by Jamal Walker`s 10 points in the final eight minutes, rallied from a 53-46 deficit to beat last-place Detroit 66-59.
Dayton breezed past No. 5 seed Evansville 71-56.
”The game was lost for us in the first 10, probably 12 minutes,” said Marquette coach Kevin O`Neill. ”I knew Robinson was capable of it. He was obviously fired up to carry out the game plan.”
”Robinson pushed me in the lane and scored on me,” said Marquette`s 7-1 freshman Jim McIlvaine. ”It was my fault.”
Kevin Footes supported Robinson by scoring 24 points and picking up 11 assists.
