Coach Thad Matta congratulates Lionel Chalmers, who had six assists during a second-half flurry. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        PHILADELPHIA — Midway through the second half Friday night, the clock above one of the Spectrum baskets went out for good. As they emerged from a 15-minute delay, though, the Musketeers didn't exactly know, or care, that 11:27 remained in the game.

        “We just knew this: It was time,” David West said.

        Time, Xavier's junior center meant, for him to get the ball. And for Dayton to go home.

        West scored nine points in a key six-minute span, and his teammates started scoring along with him, in bunches. XU's finishing flurry spelled a 66-59 victory over the Flyers in an Atlantic 10 semifinal, lifting the 24th-ranked Musketeers to their first-ever, three-game season sweep of their rivals.

Anthony Coleman and Dayton's Keith Waleskowski scramble for a loose ball. | ZOOM |

        XU (24-5) advances to the 6 p.m. championship game tonight (ESPN) against Richmond (18-12), which beat LaSalle 68-60 in the other semifinal.

        West totaled 21 points, 13 of them in the second half, and added nine rebounds. He powered an offense that shot 73.7 percent (14-of-19) after halftime.

        “I took it on my back,” West said. “I said, "To heck with it; we've gotta win.'”

        What was more impressive was the turnaround: XU shot just 32 percent in the first half (9-of-28), including making just two of their first 17 shots. It made 21 of 30 thereafter, doing so against a defense that ranked 14th nationally in field-goal percentage (39.5 percent).

David West blocks Sean Finn's shot. | ZOOM |

        The lynchpin was Lionel Chalmers, who sat out 13 minutes of the first half with foul trouble but recorded six second-half assists, connecting with West at will during the key run.

        “We knew we needed to execute,” Chalmers said. “We've been going to (West) all year, and he's been producing.”

        The shot-clock malfunction seemed a turning point.

        The deeper Flyers (20-10) were victimizing an XU team that had just eight available scholarship players, running often and burning the Musketeers in transition. UD rallied from a six-point deficit early in the second half to take a three-point lead, and when the clock went out the game was tied 44-44.

Waleskowski pulls in a rebound against Xavier's Romain Sato. | ZOOM |

        “They were scoring easy baskets, and our legs were a bit tired,” XU guard Romain Sato said. “With the rest, our legs came back, and we came back ready to play.”

        When play resumed, UD got a quick basket, but then XU went on a 7-0 run that included dunks by Sato and West. West would soon score a conventional 3-point play, then add another dunk, both coming on Chalmers entry passes. Then he made a 13-foot fadeaway jumper.

        Over a 16-6 run, the defense steadied. Then Sato, who scored 16 points, ended any Dayton comeback plans when he rattled in a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to make it 64-57.

DAYTON (59)


                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
B Hall              30  5-13   1-2   3-5   1   2   14
K Waleskowski       34   6-8   4-4   2-7   0   4   16
S Finn              27  6-11   1-3   3-8   0   4   13
R Marshall          37  2-12   0-0   1-3   4   3    5
D Morris            35  3-10   0-0   0-2   8   3    7
D Stelly            13   1-4   0-0   0-1   1   0    2
N Green              5   0-1   0-0   1-2   0   3    0
M Jones              6   1-1   0-0   0-0   0   1    2
Y Holland           13   0-4   0-0   2-3   0   1    0


_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 24-64  6-9  12-31  14  21   59
_____________________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.375, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (B Hall 3-5, R Marshall 1-7, D 
Morris 1-3, D Stelly 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. 
Blocked Shots: 1 (B Hall). Turnovers: 10 (R 
Marshall 3, K Waleskowski 2, N Green 2, B 
Hall, M Jones, D Morris). Steals: 8 (D Morris
3, B Hall 2, Y Holland, K Waleskowski, M 
Jones).


XAVIER (66)


                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
K Frey              36   2-3   0-0   0-6   0   3    5
   14   2-2   0-0   0-1   0   0    5
D West              32  7-17   7-8   2-9   1   3   21
L Chalmers          27   3-5   2-2   0-2   6   3    8
R Sato              38  5-13   4-6   0-6   3   0   16
J Williams          13   1-3   1-2   0-0   1   0    3
A Coleman           12   2-2   0-0   1-1   0   1    4
K Jackson           28   1-2   2-4   2-5   0   2    4


_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 23-47 16-22  5-30  11  12   66
_____________________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.489, FT-.727. 3-Point Goals:
4-10, .400 (K Frey 1-2,  1-1, R Sato 2-6, J 
Williams 0-1). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked 
Shots: 4 (A Coleman 2, D West, K Jackson). 
Turnovers: 13 (R Sato 5, L Chalmers 2, D West
2, K Frey 2, K Jackson, ). Steals: 6 (J 
Williams 3, L Chalmers, D West, K Jackson).


-----------------------------------
DAYTON               24  35   -  59
XAVIER               30  36   -  66
----------------------------------- 


Technical fouls: None. A: 0. Officials: Bernard 
Clinton, Joe Demato, Ken Clark

---

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