series against the Philadelphia Phillies

CINCINNATI -- No. 17 Xavier got outrebounded for the first time all season and wasted several chances to put the game away, allowing it to come down to a final free throw. Trevon Bluiett made it.Bluiett scored 20 points, including three free throws in the final 19 seconds, and the Musketeers held on for a 69-65 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday night in their annual game dedicated to former coach Skip Prosser .The Musketeers (9-2) led most of the second half but didnt have the game in hand until Bluiett hit one of his two free throws with 2 seconds left. Wake Forest (8-3) missed a pair of 3-point shots that could have tied it before Bluiett got the rebound and was fouled.Something may be off, said point guard Edmond Sumner, who had 17 points and six turnovers. At times you can see were clicking, but its not through a whole half, its in spurts. We still have to figure out whats going on.John Collins had his sixth consecutive double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Bryant Crawford scored 20 points for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest missed all of its 12 shots from beyond the arc in the second half and finished 5 of 25 on 3-pointers.Were still going to shoot it, coach Danny Manning said. Were going to shoot it 12 times the next game. Normally we make our fair share.There were nine ties and 11 lead changes in a back-and-forth game, with the Musketeers holding a slim lead for most of the second half. Sumner had a bank shot high off the backboard, and J.P. Macura had a steal and layup that made it 66-61 with 1:29 left.Sumner and Bluiett both missed the front end in the bonus before Bluiett finally closed it out from the line.Even when were not on top of our game, we can still close games out, Bluiett said. Its a good feeling for us to know were capable of doing that. We dont want to keep putting ourselves in those situations.OUTREBOUNDEDThe Demon Deacons became the first team to outrebound Xavier this season, getting a 38-37 edge that included 15 offensive rebounds.ARC WOESWake Forest has done much better at shooting the 3 this season, making 38.8 percent before Saturdays game. Theyve been a team of extremes, tough, making 13 twice and five or less four times.We were getting good looks at the basket but the ball wasnt falling, Crawford said. We should have gone inside more, found other ways to score.POLL IMPLICATIONSXavier has won its last two games, including a 77-69 victory over Utah, to stabilize in the poll after dropping because of back-to-back road losses against Baylor and Colorado.BIG PICTUREWake Forest: The Demon Deacons have lost both of their games against ranked teams this season, including 96-77 to Villanova in the Charleston Classic. Theyre 1-12 against ranked teams in last two seasons, including a win over No. 13 Indiana in the Maui Invitational. Their last win on the road over a ranked team was 82-69 at No. 24 North Carolina on Jan. 20, 2010.Xavier: The Musketeers soft passes led to repeated turnovers that played into Wake Forests hands. Xavier had 10 turnovers in the first half and 15 overall.That was just us doing careless stuff, like me traveling two times, Sumner said. It wasnt because of the pressure.UP NEXTWake Forest returns home and finished non-conference play against LSU on Thursday. The Demon Deacons won in Baton Rouge 77-71 last season.Xavier hosts Eastern Washington on Tuesday before opening Big East play by hosting Providence on Dec. 28.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Patrick Ricard Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. Hroniss Grasu Jersey . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. http://www.customravensjersey.com/custom-patrick-onwuasor-jersey-large-1933d.html . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Priest Holmes Jersey . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Justice Hill Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. NEW YORK -- The term next man up is most often associated with the NFL. But the injury-plagued New York Mets are winning with the mantra as they pursue a National League wild-card berth.The next next man up is left-hander Sean Gilmartin, who tries to nudge New York closer to the playoffs when he makes his first start of the season Saturday night in the third contest of a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.The Mets won the first two games of the series including Friday, when they used six pitchers to piece together a 10-5 victory.New York (82-72) moved one game ahead of the San Francisco Giants (81-73) in the race for the NLs first wild card by virtue of Giants 7-2 loss to the San Diego Padres late Friday night.The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost 5-0 to the Chicago Cubs earlier Friday, are a half-game behind the Giants.Gilmartin is taking the rotation spot usually occupied by ace right-hander Noah Syndergaard, who was supposed to start Saturday but was pushed back at least a couple days because of a bout with strep throat.Gilmartin made 18 starts this season at Triple-A Las Vegas, but has not pitched more than two innings or thrown as many as 20 pitches since he was recalled by the Mets on Aug. 25.Got to turn to Sean Gilmartin (and) say Hey look, youve got to step up, heres your chance, Mets manager Terry Collins said.Syndergaards illness is the latest roadbloock encountered by the Mets, who expected right-hander Jacob deGrom (right elbow) and left-hander Steven Matz (left shoulder) to return to the rotation this week but instead learned they are done for the season.ddddddddddddThe Mets have three rookies in their rotation -- Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Gabriel Ynoa, the latter of whom started Friday in place of Matz and allowed two runs in two innings.Youre numb to it now, its happened so much, Collins said of the constant upheaval.The Phillies, meanwhile, send rookie right-hander Alec Asher to the mound as Philadelphia (69-85) looks for the consistency it lacked the previous two nights. The Mets came back from ninth- and 11th-inning deficits to win Thursdays series opener 9-8 and trailed 3-1 after four innings Friday.The next step is for all these guys to get better, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Thats how you win. Youve got to have consistency.Gilmartin is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Phillies, who were the opponent for his lone previous career start last Oct. 1. He took the loss after giving up two runs over five innings in Philadelphias 3-2 victory.Asher gave up five runs over a career-low two-thirds of an inning in his lone previous start against the Mets last Sept. 30. ' ' '