David West agonizes in the closing moments of Sunday's loss. (Michael E. Keating photos) | ZOOM |

        DAYTON, Ohio — David West was lugging his bag out of University of Dayton Arena an hour after the game Sunday, still mumbling and shaking his head.

        “We had them. We had them.”

        Xavier had both a victory at Dayton and an NCAA Tournament bid seemingly wrapped up, then saw an eight-point lead vanish in the final 5:20.

        The Flyers kept scoring. The Musketeers unraveled. The crowd grew louder. And West, the likely Atlantic 10 player of the year, couldn't get the ball.

        In the final moments, West pounded his fist in his hand, pulled his jersey over his head, and fought back tears. Dayton's 65-62 beating of the 25th-ranked Musketeers extends the drama about XU's NCAA hopes into the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

        “We blew another big opportunity,” West said. “I hope this doesn't shake (XU's confidence). I hope guys keep their heads up and keep focused.”

        XU finishes the regular season 21-6 (12-4 A-10).

West misses a block. | ZOOM |

        Here's where things get dicey: The Musketeers were 34th in the RPI before Sunday's game. Should XU lose its A-10 opener Thursday — against the George Washington/Duquesne winner — its RPI would drop well into the 40s.

        Last season, three teams in the 30s missed the NCAA Tournament: Southwest Missouri State (No. 34), Kent State (36) and Vanderbilt (39th). All had late-season slumps.

        “You don't want to lose your first-round (league tourney) game,” RPI guru Jerry Palm said. “Teams this time of year have to take care of business.”

        The Musketeers appeared shell-shocked after Sunday's game. None of them wanted to talk about whether their next game was a must-win.

        “I wouldn't think we'd need one more (victory),” XU coach Skip Prosser said. “But right now it's hard enough just to dwell on the game.”

        There was a lot to dwell on.

Kevin Frey's shot is blocked. | ZOOM |

        It was the first of XU's losses this season in which it lost a big lead. XU lost its sixth straight at Dayton and is 5-25 against the Flyers in UD Arena. XU got to the foul line four times in the second half, while Dayton shot 17 second-half free throws.

        West, who led all scorers with 18 points, had one field-goal attempt in the last 7:23 — a tip-in of a Maurice McAfee miss with 3.3 seconds left.

        “We took bad shots and went away from what got us the lead,” McAfee said.

        XU used an 18-8 run to take a 58-50 lead with 5:34 left. But UD (18-11, 9-7 A-10) started to rally with a Yuanta Holland basket 14 seconds later.

        XU unraveled quickly. Its next six possessions consisted of four missed shots, a turnover and an offensive foul. UD had a 12-0 run to take a four-point lead with 1:53 left.

        XU had a chance to tie, down 62-60 with 16.5 seconds left. It had called time out to set up a play, but sophomore guard Lionel Chalmers missed a heavily guarded layup with 10 seconds left. Chalmers missed a desperation 3-pointer from midcourt at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.

        “We didn't handle the end-game situations,” Prosser said. “We try to practice it a lot, but we didn't answer the bell in the last three, four minutes.

        “I'm disappointed in our shot selection. They guarded us, and we didn't put the ball where we needed to put the ball.”

        Namely, inside. West grew visibly frustrated calling for the ball in the final minutes.

        “I don't know if it was conscious or unconscious, but we just didn't get it to him,” Chalmers said.

        XU again struggled on 3-point shooting, making 22.7 percent (5-of-22). It was outrebounded 38-33.

        The key is whether it will lose its cool. In March, there's no time for a losing streak.

        “This one is tough, real tough,” McAfee said. “It was a game we needed. But all we can do is bounce back.”

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XAVIER (62)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Frey            29   2-6   0-0   4-6  2  4    4
Price           23   1-4   0-0   3-3  2  4    2
West            37  7-10   4-6  3-11  2  4   18
Sato            32  3-10   5-5   3-4  0  2   13
Mcafee          37  4-11   4-5   0-2  2  3   13
Chalmers        24   2-7   1-2   0-2  0  2    7
Young            4   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Butler          14   2-3   1-2   0-2  0  3    5
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-52 15-20 13-30  8 23   62
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.404, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
5-22, .227 (Frey 0-1, Price 0-1, Sato 2-7, Mcafee
1-7, Chalmers 2-5, Young 0-1). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 3 (West, Mcafee, Butler).
Turnovers: 11 (Price 3, West 3, Mcafee 2, Sato 2,
Frey). Steals: 1 (Mcafee).


DAYTON (65)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Gilchrist        3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Green           18   2-3   5-7   3-4  1  4    9
Waleskowski     34   2-5   2-2  4-10  0  3    6
Stanley         24  1-11   2-4   2-4  4  4    4
Morris          27   2-6   4-5   2-3  4  4    9
Marshall        32  3-11   0-0   1-2  2  1    8
Holland         25   6-7   4-4   4-7  1  2   16
Hall            35  5-13   2-2   1-4  1  2   13
Finn             2   0-0   0-1   1-2  0  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-56 19-25 18-36 13 21   65
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.375, FT-.760. 3-Point Goals:
4-24, .167 (Stanley 0-7, Morris 1-2, Marshall
2-7, Hall 1-8). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots:
3 (Stanley, Holland, Finn). Turnovers: 9
(Marshall 3, Morris 2, Stanley 2, Hall,
Waleskowski). Steals: 4 (Hall 2, Waleskowski 2).
__________________________________
Xavier             33   29  -   62
Dayton             30   35  -   65
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 13,553. Officials:
Reggie Greenwood, Richard San Fillipo, Ken Clark.

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