Xavier Takes Atlantic-10 Title

James Posey, the best sixth man in the Atlantic 10 during the regular season, was the best player in the league's postseason tournament.

Posey scored 23 points, including 11-for-14 from the foul line, as Xavier won its first Atlantic 10 tournament on Saturday night with a 77-63 victory over George Washington.

Posey, who won the conferenceÂ's sixth-man award the last two seasons, also had seven rebounds and two spectacular dunks as the Musketeers (22-7) took over in the closing minutes.

Â"He's not a sub,Â" GW coach Mike Jarvis said. "He's a great basketball player.Â"

Xavier coach Skip Prosser said Posey deserves to start, but helps the team more as a sixth man.

Â"It's just a formula that worked for us last year, and I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I figure if it worked last year, why change it?" Prosser said.

Torraye Braggs added 17 points and seven rebounds and Lenny Brown had 14 points for Xavier, which receives an automatic NCAA tournament bid.

Posey, Braggs, Brown and Darnell Williams made the all-tournament team, only the second time four players from the same team did that. Rounding out the all-tourney team was GW guard Shawnta Rogers.

Yegor Mescheriakov led the Colonials (24-8) with 15 points and Rogers added 13. Pat Ngongba had 10 rebounds for GW.

The teams took up where they left off in their last meeting, when they combined for a conference-record 103 free throws in Xavier's 96-86 victory.

SaturdayÂ' final was physical from start to finish as both teams sat starters in the second half with foul trouble. J.J. Brade, Alexander Koul and Mike King fouled out for the Colonials.

Posey, Williams, Braggs and T.J. Johnson survived, despite picking up four fouls each.

George Washington finished with 20 turnovers and 29 fouls, and Xavier took advantage by making 34 of 43 from the line.

Â"Any game that's hotly contested is going to come down to two things: who makes the easy baskets, and who makes the free throws,Â" Jarvis said.

Xavier, which led by five points at halftime, used a 6-0 run in the second half to take a 59-48 lead. Posey started the spurt with a layup, then Braggs hit two inside baskets. After Rogers' 3-pointer, Xavier hit four free throws, taking a 63-51 lead with 4:03 left.

The Colonials never recovered.

Â"This was not really the style of game we like to play,Â" Williams said, "but if the game comes down to a half-court game, we're going to slug it out.Â"

For the second game in a row, Xavier started quickly, jumping ahead 17-6 as George Washington turned the ball over eight times in the first eight minutes. The Colonials finished the half with 15 turnovers, but a 9-3 run cut the deficit to 33-28 at halftime.

Xavier beat St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island -- to teams that had upset them this year -- in getting to their first final since joining the conference three seasons ago.

The Musketeers had reached the final of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference 10 times in 16 years and won the championship six times.

George Washington has never won the conference title and had been to only one other final, losing to Penn State in 1991.

The Colonials avenged two regular-season losses in getting to the finals for the first time in seven years, beating Massachusetts 88-83 and No. 24 Temple 78-64. Their tournament run probably clinched an NCAA invitation.

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