By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier's Romain Sato, shown bulling his way past George Washington's Mike Hall, finished with 16 points Wednesday in his last regular-season game at Cintas Center. Temple is next for the Musketeers. The Cincinnati Enquirer/STEVEN M. HERPPICH

The right scenario was in place Wednesday for Xavier to post a convincing win that could take on particular importance in 10 days.

The combination of senior night, a payback game and its NCAA Tournament hopes hanging by the slimmest of margins prompted Xavier (18-10, 9-6 Atlantic 10) to an 83-66 victory against George Washington in front of a sold-out Cintas Center.

The game was a complete reversal of Xavier's 21-point loss to George Washington Jan. 28, when the Colonials forced a fast-break tempo throughout the game.

"It's payback and senior night," said senior Anthony Myles. "We didn't want to go out with a loss."

The win also could be essential on Selection Sunday, March 14, because it came against another bubble team. George Washington (16-10, 10-5) and Xavier are both likely in contention for what few NCAA Tournament at-large bids remain. Xavier has won eight of its last nine games. The Musketeers lost to Duquesne Saturday.

"We're in March, the pressure's on now," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "They have to understand that and get a feel for what is at stake and what you're playing for, within the context of saying, 'We have to beat Temple on Saturday.' I hope that we can continue to learn our lesson of how we're capable of playing when we play as a team and are mentally ready to go."

Xavier's three scholarship seniors came up biggest in their final regular-season home game. Lionel Chalmers scored 24 points. Romain Sato finished with 16, and Myles had 14. Sato grabbed nine rebounds, and Chalmers recorded eight assists.

Xavier shot 51.9 percent from the field and limited George Washington to 35.7 percent with an aggressive zone defense. It took away George Washington's inside game and forced GW into a 5-for-27 shooting night behind the 3-point line. Xavier, meanwhile, made 10 of 20 3-pointers, including its first six.

"We were trying to slow them down with the zone," Sato said. "Make everybody shoot. Make them take the tough shot. Everything they try to do is inside."

Xavier led by as many as 25 points, 67-42, before George Washington went on a late-game 15-5 run to make the final minutes competitive.

Xavier controlled the game from the beginning, establishing a 15-point lead, 26-11, seven minutes into the game on the strength of its shooting game and tough defense.

"The big thing was getting back in transition and getting back in our zone," Chalmers said. "They were pushing the ball 100 miles an hour."

Twenty of Xavier's 28 field goals were assisted. It was the second-highest assist total of the season for Xavier.

"We had to take care of the ball," Sato said. "Move the ball. If we move the ball, we can beat anybody. Move the ball, make the extra pass and make somebody open. If that's the way we play, we're a good team."

RECRUIT WATCHES: Xavier's incoming 2004 recruit Stanley Burrell attended Wednesday's game. He recently ended his prep-school season at Hargrave Military (Va.) Academy, and will arrive at Xavier permanently in May to begin summer classes.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

George Washington	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Williams	27	0	2	3	5	3	1	2	2	3
Hall	32	3	6	4	4	9	0	3	1	10
Kireev	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Thompson	21	1	9	4	4	4	3	1	0	6
Elliott	30	5	9	3	5	1	1	0	2	15
Pinnock	26	5	9	3	4	6	0	5	5	14
Lucas	13	1	5	0	0	1	2	1	1	3
Johnson	10	0	1	0	0	2	0	2	0	0
Men.-Bonsu	13	2	5	1	2	5	1	3	1	5
Cowan	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Battistoni	2	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	1
Collucci	8	1	5	0	0	1	0	1	0	3
Forchion	11	2	3	2	2	5	0	0	0	6
Totals	200	20	56	21	28	39	8	19	12	66

Team rebounds - 1.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Cage	38	1	5	2	2	7	4	2	4	5
Doellman	23	3	3	4	4	1	2	4	0	12
Myles	28	6	11	2	2	6	1	5	2	14
Chalmers	40	9	12	2	4	3	8	0	0	24
Sato	35	6	14	1	3	9	4	3	1	16
Finn	18	0	2	1	2	2	1	2	1	1
Jackson	7	2	3	1	2	1	0	2	0	5
Cole	10	1	3	4	4	3	0	1	0	6
Compton	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	28	54	17	23	34	20	19	8	83

Team rebounds - 2.

George Washington	31	35	-66
Xavier	41	42	-83

3-pointers - George Washington 5-27 (Thompson 0-7, Elliott 2-4, Pinnock 1-4, Lucas 1-4, Johnson 0-1, Cowan 0-2, Collucci 1-5), Xavier 10-20 (Cage 1-4, Doellman 2-2, Chalmers 4-6, Sato 3-5, Finn 0-2, Jackson 0-1). Officials - Frank Scagliotta, Joe DeMayo, Pat Driscoll. Attendance - 10,250.