By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

David West, 30, celebrates his team's win. (Gary Landers photos) | ZOOM |

Xavier head coach Thad Matta urges his team on. | ZOOM |

West blocks a shot against the UD's Warren Williams. | ZOOM |

West is surrounded by Keith Waleskowski, Sean Finn, and Ramond Marshall. | ZOOM |

DAYTON - It took more than a month and a half, but Xavier finally moved into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10 on Saturday after another dramatic victory over Dayton.

Two weeks after No. 14 Xavier forced a tie with Dayton atop the A-10 standings with a win at Cintas Center, the Musketeers beat the Flyers 73-72 in a game that went to the final second.

Lionel Chalmers picked up a loose-ball rebound with 21.4 seconds left and laid in the game-winning basket for Xavier, which improved to 20-4 and 11-1 in the league with its 11th consecutive win.

Dayton had a final shot, but Ramod Marshall fired an airball in the lane over David West's outstretched arm and the ball went out of bounds to Xavier with one second left. After officials reviewed video to determine how much time should be put on the clock, Keith Jackson caught a length-of-the-court pass to send Xavier players into a celebration full of hugs and high-fives. West finished with 27 points and eight rebounds and won the Blackburn-McCafferty Most Valuable Player Award for the second consecutive time and the third time in his career.

"It was a great win for our team," West said. "We've had this one circled since last year. When we come in here now, this is one of the better games in college basketball, period."

While West didn't put up the incredible numbers of 47 points and 18 rebounds that won him National Player of the Week honors in Xavier's first win against Dayton, he did make 8 of 8 free throws, including four in the final two minutes to give Xavier a one-point lead each time.

Chalmers' game-winner served as redemption for the turnover he made with 2:40 left that led to a Frank Iguodala layup and UD's first lead of the second half, 68-67. The lead changed four more times before Chalmers raced into the lane and picked up Dedrick Finn's errant 3-pointer.

"Things weren't going real well for me," Chalmers said, "but I'm going to keep persevering and do whatever it takes to win. I just went and grabbed it and put it up strong."

No. 25 Dayton (19-5, 11-2) lost to Xavier for the fifth consecutive time in two seasons. But none of the previous five losses was as big as this one, which gave Xavier the upper hand in defense of its A-10 West division title with four regular-season games to play.

"I believe the reason why this was a great win is because this game was for first place in the conference," Chalmers said. "It was a good team, and a great crowd. It was great, quality win."

Until Saturday, Dayton had not lost at home in 13 games this season. Fans were especially hard on West and Romain Sato, who played high school ball at Dayton Christian and finished with 16 points But the atmosphere never seemed to rattle Xavier's players.

During the second half, Xavier led by three points at each of the four media timeouts, occurring approximately four minutes apart.

"That was huge," said Xavier coach Thad Matta. "We wanted to keep our composure. And there was one great play after another made both ways. (Keeping the lead) was very important, at least for my sanity."

Xavier's largest lead was seven, twice in the second half. Dayton led by as much as four points for about three minutes near the end of the first half, but key baskets from centers Will Caudle and Anthony Myles kept Xavier close.

Dayton limited West's shot attempts with quick double-teams in the first half, leaving Caudle and Myles open around the basket. They each scored in double figures, Myles with 15 points and Caudle with 10 on 5-for-5 shooting.

"I really wasn't expecting to be that open," Caudle said. "I thought they might try to double me, too. The advantage that I had is it was right there, and (baskets) were mine for the taking. Coach said, 'Will, I need you to go in there and make something happen.' "

Dayton expected something like that to happen, said UD coach Oliver Purnell, but Myles' seven offensive rebounds, part of his career-high total of 15, hurt the most.

"When you rotate over to pay more attention to (West), somebody else is going to step in," Purnell said. "When you trap somebody, you're leaving somebody else open to do some damage."

Xavier outrebounded Dayton 38-30, but the Musketeers did not have an answer for Dayton's big men, Keith Waleskowski and Sean Finn. Waleskowski led UD with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Finn scored 17 points before fouling out with 1:28 left. The foul came while guarding West, who made two free throws to give Xavier a 71-70 lead.

Dayton won't get another shot at Xavier in the regular season, but the teams could potentially meet in the A-10 Tournament, which is being held in Dayton March 13-15.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Sato	32	5	16	5	5	6	4	0	2	16
West	40	8	15	8	8	8	0	2	2	27
Myles	25	6	12	3	4	15	1	4	3	15
Chalmers	30	2	6	0	0	2	2	4	2	4
Finn	37	0	3	0	0	3	4	1	1	0
Jackson	15	0	0	1	2	1	0	1	1	1
Caudle	13	5	5	0	0	2	0	0	1	10
Totals	200	26	57	17	19	38	11	12	12	73

Team rebounds: 1.

Dayton	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Hall	31	3	7	0	0	7	2	0	1	6
Waleskowski	30	7	9	1	2	6	0	1	0	18
Finn	28	7	12	3	4	6	2	5	1	17
Marshall	37	4	10	2	2	1	5	1	2	12
Jones	27	2	9	0	0	3	3	2	1	4
Stelly	13	1	4	0	0	3	0	3	1	2
Green	20	3	10	0	0	3	0	3	1	6
Williams	12	2	3	0	0	0	4	0	1	5
Iguodala	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
Totals	200	30	65	6	8	30	16	16	8	72

Team rebounds: 1.

Xavier	38	35	-73
Dayton	32	40	-72

Attendance-13,409. 3-point goals-Xavier 4-10 (Sato 1-5, West 3-3, Chalmers 0-1, Finn 0-1); Dayton 6-19 (Hall 0-4, Waleskowski 3-4, Marshall 2-5, Jones 0-4, Stelly 0-1, Williams 1-1). Technical fouls-None. Officials-DeMayo, Clark, Perone.

ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE

East

	Conf.		Overall
	W	L	W	L
St. Joseph's	9	3	19	4
Rhode Island	7	6	15	9
Temple	6	5	9	13
St. Bonaventure	6	6	12	13
UMass	4	7	10	14
Fordham	1	11	2	21

West

	Conf.		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Xavier	11	1	20	4
Dayton	11	2	19	5
Richmond	7	6	13	11
La Salle	4	8	10	13
Geo.Washington	4	9	10	14
Duquesne	3	9	9	16

Saturday's Games

Saint Joseph's 76, St. Bonaventure 72

Xavier 73, Dayton 72

George Washington 76, La Salle 67

Richmond 70, Rhode Island 69, OT

Today's Games

Temple at Fordham, Noon

Duquesne at Massachusetts, 2 p.m.