By Joe Kay
The Associated Press

A loose ball turns into a game-winning shot. A tip-in sets up overtime and another victory. Instant replay confirms that yet another last-second tip beat the buzzer. The second-longest winning streak in Xavier's history is getting longer and stranger.

David West's tip-in at the buzzer gave the 13th-ranked Musketeers their 13th consecutive victory Saturday, 71-70 over George Washington. It also sent them a message.

Xavier (22-4, 13-1 Atlantic 10) realized that it won't keep winning if it keeps playing like this.

"We've won a whole bunch in a row, and I don't know if we're getting to the point where guys are getting comfortable with winning," said West, who had a game-high 23 points. "We're not playing our type of basketball anymore, and it's showing."

The Musketeers became a dangerous team when point guard Lionel Chalmers returned from a broken foot last month. Even though he's not fully healed, he gives Xavier senior leadership and plenty of options on offense.

He made one of Xavier's biggest shots of the season, picking up a loose ball in the closing seconds and banking it in for a 73-72 victory at Dayton on Feb. 22.

The Musketeers became the first team to beat Dayton on its home floor and took over first place in the conference.

Since then, the Musketeers have been flat.

'Just surviving'

Xavier needed Anthony Myles' tip-in at the buzzer in regulation to rally for an 80-78 overtime victory last Wednesday at lowly Duquesne. The Musketeers figured to win easily Saturday over George Washington (10-16, 4-11), one of the conference's youngest teams.

Instead, Xavier played another lackluster game, had 18 turnovers and blew a 10-point lead in the last eight minutes.

"We're just surviving in all of the wins we're getting," Romain Sato said.

Chris Monroe's jumper with 10 seconds left put George Washington ahead 70-69. Xavier called timeout and set up a play designed to get West the ball near the basket.

He got the ball, then got double-teamed and had it knocked away as he tried to pass. Chalmers picked it up at the free-throw line and shot an air ball that came down in a crowd of players and got batted around.

West sneaked under the basket, reached around with his left hand and tipped the ball off the backboard and into the basket as the buzzer went off, prompting Xavier players to celebrate.

But the official on the baseline emphatically waved off the basket, prompting George Washington players to jump into each others' arms in celebration. It was too soon.

The three officials huddled briefly and went over to the scorer's table to look at the replay. Xavier coach Thad Matta crouched and peered over one official's shoulder at the television monitor, where the replay was shown about a half-dozen times.

The replays showed that the ball left West's hand with the tiniest fraction of a second left. The streak was intact - barely.

A lot at stake

Matta, who tore into his team at halftime in the locker room, wondered afterward whether his players were becoming too comfortable with all of the winning.

"I have mixed emotions," Matta said. "I'm happy we won, but I'm not real happy that we didn't play well. That's the second time we've needed a tip-in to win.

"We're moving on. We've got to get better quickly."

West, who moved into second place on Xavier's career scoring list with 2,017 points, hopes his team doesn't forget how close it came to losing.

"I think this team has a lot at stake as far as postseason play," West said. "Just surviving games is not what we do around here."