MHERST -- After a pocket full of Posey, things look a little less rosy for the University of Massachusetts Minutemen.

Xavier sophomore forward James Posey came up with a slew of big plays down the stretch Saturday afternoon, leading the 20th-ranked Musketeers to an 87-84 victory over UMass in overtime. Posey tipped in the basket that forced overtime with just 6.6 seconds remaining, then scored Xavier's first seven points in the extra period. And then at the end of the overtime, Posey swatted away Carmelo Travieso's bid for a tying 3-pointer to preserve the victory.

The loss snapped a couple of big UMass streaks. The five-game winning streak is now over, as is the 11-game run of overtime victories that dated back to March 1991. More importantly, the loss dims the NCAA tournament prospects for the 11-10 (5-3) Minutemen, infusing the remaining games with greater urgency.

For Xavier (15-3, 6-2), the victory solidified what has thus far been a breakthrough season. It also erased some of the pain from last year's game with UMass, an overtime loss in Cincinnati.

"I'm very proud of the character of our kids," said coach Skip Prosser, "because in so many ways UMass under coach Calipari and coach Flint really defines mental toughness and pulling out close games."

UMass didn't provide that definition this time. A fatigued UMass team played hard, but could not muster the clutch plays at the end of regulation that would have sealed the game. They were unable to gather in two key defensive rebounds in the final two minutes (the last being Posey's tying tip), and they missed some critical free throws.

Leading 71-68 with 42.7 seconds left, UMass saw Edgar Padilla's front end of a one-and-one fall badly short. Torraye Braggs hit two foul shots with 19.7 seconds left to cut the gap to 71-70. Then with 18.8 seconds remaining, Charlton Clarke was fouled and managed just one of two shots for a 72-70 lead. That set the stage for Posey's equalizer after Braggs had missed a leaning jump shot.

Some UMass players said they were upset by what they considered a poorly officiated game. Xavier took 44 foul shots, compared to 19 for UMass. The Minutemen were whistled for 29 fouls, compared to 16 for Xavier, and only a couple of the 29 came at the end of overtime when UMass was fouling deliberately. In regulation, the Minutemen lost Lari Ketner and Inus Norville to fouls, and then in OT, they lost Padilla. No Xavier player fouled out.

Asked about his opinion of the officiating, UMass coach Bruiser Flint said, "I'm not even going to get in to the officials. You were there." Flint, though, was quick to accurately add, "If we make foul shots, we win the game. That's the bottom line."

The loss overshadowed a superb performance by Travieso, who scored a game-high 29 points. Along the way, the UMass senior went over the 1,000-point mark, becoming the 30th player in school history to do so.

Charlton Clarke and Tyrone Weeks added 12 points apiece for UMass. Lari Ketner, limited to just 16 minutes by the foul trouble, scored 10. With Ketner on the bench for most of the contest, UMass was unable to establish a solid presence in the post, where the Minutemen felt they had an advantage.

Gary Lumpkin paced the Musketeers with 21 points. Braggs had 19, Posey had 17 and Lenny Brown had 16. Posey's show was tremendously efficient. He took only four-field goal attemps (hitting three), while connecting on 9-10 free throws. Coming into the game, Posey had hit just 3-22 from three-point land; yesterday he hit both of his attempts, including one in overtime.

In OT, Xavier never trailed. The Musketeers three times built the lead to six points. Two three-pointers by Travieso allowed the Minutemen to claw back to 85-84 with 13 seconds left.

Lenny Brown then hit a pair of clutch free throws for the Musketeers with 9.9 seconds remaining.

After a Xavier timeout, the Musketeers unsuccessfully attempted to foul UMass near halfcourt. The Minutemen worked the ball in the corner to Travieso, who squared his feet and elevated, but Posey came off his man to block the shot out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left.

"I was just trying to contest it with a high hand," said Posey. "It was nothing special."

But special it was, after Winston Smith was unable to find a free three-point shooter on the inbounds pass. Gary Lumpkin stole the ball to finish the contest.

UMass will try to digest the bitter pill and get back to work Monday night at Fordham.

MHERST - The five-game winning streak is over, foiled by a quicker adversary that won the battle of the big plays down the stretch in an Atlantic 10 conference thriller. Now the question is how will the University of Massachusetts respond after yesterday's 87-84 overtime loss to 20th-ranked Xavier, the Minutemen's first setback since staging a dramatic charge to salvage a once-beleagured season.

Will UMass return to the form that led to nine losses in its first 15 games and jeopardize its postseason -aspirations, or will it rebound quickly enough to? get on course in time for March Madness?

It better be the latter or UMass will lose tomorrow night against A-10 foe Fordham, said coach Bruiser Flint, whose team led, 71-65, with 1:02 left in regulation but managed just 1 point the rest of the way, missing two of three free throws.

Xavier, meanwhile, sank three of four free throws to cut the lead to 2, then tied it at 72-72 with 6.5 seconds left when forward James Posey (17 points) tipped in a missed shot. UMass guard Edgar Padilla's 3-point attempt hit the left side of the backboard just before time expired.

UMass had won its last 11 overtime games, but yesterday in OT, Posey, who had just 2 points in the first half, scored Xavier's first 7 as the Musketeers led, 79-74. Xavier went ahead, 80-74, before UMass cut into the lead, pulling within 85-84 on a 3-point basket by Carmelo Travieso with 13.2 seconds left.

Travieso finished with a season-high 29 points, hitting 8 of 12 from 3-point range, and became the 30th player in UMass history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

But following two free throws by Xavier's Lenny Brown with 9.9 seconds left, Travieso had a 3-point attempt that would have tied it swatted out of bounds by Posey.

"I thought when I got the ball one of my teammates was in front of me," said Travieso. "I had to avoid him and as I turned and squared up, Posey just came in and blocked it. I wasn't squared up enough for it."

Xavier guard Gary Lumpkin stole forward Winston Smith's ensuing inbounds pass and the Musketeers ran out the clock. Xavier, the only A-10 team ranked in the Top 25 polls, improved to 15-3, 6-2.

Edgar Padilla runs into trouble.

It was UMass' first loss in six games with its three-guard offense. Padilla had 7 points on 2-of-9 shooting, turned the ball over seven times and missed the front end of a one-and-one with 42.7 seconds left and UMass ahead, 71-66. Guard Charlton Clarke finished with 12 points and 9 assists, had 6 turnovers and missed the second of two foul shots with 18.8 seconds left and UMass ahead, 72-70. That set up Posey's tying bucket.

UMass forward Tyrone Weeks was among many from both teams who complained about the officiating, but Flint would not touch the subject. "Hey, if we make the foul shots we win the game," said Flint. "That's the bottom line."

The game was reminiscent of last season's meeting, which UMass won, 78-74, in overtime, after Padilla drained a trey with 18 seconds left in regulation to force OT, then stole a pass in the closing seconds to preserve the win.

"Right after the regulation period, as soon as I came to the bench, the first word I heard was payback," said Lumpkin (a team-high 21 points). "Last year was bitter. They did a lot of good things that stopped us. This time we stuck together. I think last year we would have lost the game. This time we made the big plays and executed."

Particularly at the defensive end, where the Musketeers' backcourt pressure created many problems. That and the Musketeers' team speed tired the Minutemen.

"We made some turnovers but some of them were fatigue turnovers," said Flint.

Still, the coach said his team's output assured him it will not return to its subpar efforts from earlier in the season. "I thought my guys played extremely hard," he said. "We had a chance to win down the stretch but missed some foul shots.

"We have to be ready to play every night because we are 11-10. We've taken our lumps. We can't go down to Fordham thinking this will be an easy game. If we win games, things take care of themselves."

MHERST, Mass. - When Massachusetts tried to inbound the ball one final time with 1.5 seconds left Saturday, it went under James Posey's legs and right into Gary Lumpkin's hands. It was all Lumpkin could do to hang on to the ball, to protect it, cradle it.

"I was kind of surprised," the Xavier point guard said. "I turned around, and it was coming right at me. I haven't had a feeling like that in awhile."

It was relief, revenge, satisfaction and elation all rolled into one. The hugs and chest bumping began in the middle of the court. Except for the shouts of the XU players, the arena fell silent.

Xavier's 87-84 overtime victory at Massachusetts gave the 20th-ranked Musketeers a two-week sweep of the league's other top teams: Temple, George Washington, Rhode Island and the Minutemen. In that order.

Two of those victories came on the road, including at George Washington. Two came in overtime, including Temple. Three came by four points or fewer.

XU (15-3, 6-2 A-10) has now beaten the "team to beat" in its city (Cincinnati), its division (GW) and the Atlantic 10 (UMass).

"We're not there yet," Xavier coach Skip Prosser said. "You have to stand the test of time. We're trying to get there, (and) we're getting closer."

"When we started out at the beginning of the season we set our goal to win the Atlantic 10," junior T.J. Johnson said. "That's been our goal since we joined the league. But we're still a growing ball team."

With their five league championship banners hanging at one end of the Mullins Center - and a bat zipping around the building - the Minutemen (11-10, 5-3) watched the Musketeers turn the tables on them, winning in their gym in overtime, just as UMass did at Cincinnati Gardens last season.

In fact, with the game tied, Massachusetts guard Edgar Padilla launched a three-pointer at the buzzer of regulation that had an eerie similarity to the game-tying three-pointer he hit against XU with 18 seconds left in regulation a year ago.

But this one bounced away, not even close.

XU reserve James Posey had tipped in a Torraye Braggs miss with 6.4 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 72. Posey scored the winning basket at George Washington nine days earlier the same way.

"In the huddle, Coach said when the shot goes up to crash the boards," Posey said. "I was surprised I was so open, but I was right there to tip in back." Said Braggs: "He's a real slippery player. That was probably the biggest play of the game."

Posey wasn't finished.

He scored Xavier's first seven overtime points, including a three-pointer that put the Musketeers ahead for good at 77-74 with 3:54 remaining. It was Posey's second three of the game; he came in 3-of-22 from behind the arc.

"I was like, 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' " Posey said. "After practice I shoot around with Kevin Yeoman, one of our managers. It was just a matter of time until they started to fall."

Then came a key exchange:

UMass forward Tyrone Weeks missed a bank shot, rebounded and missed the follow-up, and when Posey grabbed the rebound, he was fouled by Padilla - his fifth foul. Starting center Lari Ketner and reserve Inus Norville already had fouled out.

Posey hit two free throws to give XU a five-point lead.

His encore came with 1.5 seconds left with he got a hand on Carmelo Travieso's three-point attempt which could have tied it. Travieso finished 8-of-12 from three-point range with a game-high 29 points.

"He was just like a man possessed," Johnson said of Posey. "He's just got a knack for being around the ball. It seems like there's a loose ball and here comes Posey's 10-foot arms grabbing it."

Lumpkin led XU with 21 points. Braggs added 19, Posey 17 and Lenny Brown 16. XU outscored UMass 31-14 at the foul line. The Minutemen were called for 29 fouls, Xavier 16.

It was the first loss in six games for the Minutemen since they went to a three-guard offense, and it was only their sixth loss ever in the Mullins Center, where they are 43-6.

"It's right up there with beating a team like UC at their gym," Brown said. "It's a big win because they're the standard in the league."

XAVIER OHIO
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Johnson         37   2-3   4-6   1-4  2  3    8
Williams        19   2-5   0-2   0-1  1  3    4
Braggs          42  7-10   5-7   1-5  4  4   19
Brown           41  5-11   6-7   0-2  3  3   16
Lumpkin         42   7-9   5-8   2-5  5  2   21
Anderson         6   0-0   2-3   0-1  0  0    2
Payne            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Carr             9   0-1   0-1   0-1  1  0    0
Posey           27   3-4  9-10   1-3  0  1   17
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         225 26-43 31-44  5-22 16 16   87
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.605, FT-.705. 3-Point Goals:
4-7, .571 (Brown 0-1, Lumpkin 2-4, Posey 2-2).
Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 3 (Posey 2,
Brown). Turnovers: 21 (Braggs 5, Johnson 5,
Lumpkin 4, Brown 2, Williams 2, Carr, Posey).
Steals: 13 (Lumpkin 4, Williams 4, Braggs 2,
Posey 2, Brown).


MASSACHUSETTS 
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Clarke          39   4-9   4-6   0-4  9  4   12
Weeks           39   4-9   4-4   4-6  1  4   12
Ketner          16   5-6   0-0   3-4  0  5   10
Travieso        45  9-19   3-5   0-2  1  3   29
Padilla         41   2-9   3-4   0-0  6  5    7
Smith           10   3-3   0-0   2-2  0  1    6
Basit           21   2-4   0-0   1-3  0  2    4
Norville        14   2-2   0-0   2-4  0  5    4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         225 31-61 14-19 12-25 17 29   84
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.508, FT-.737. 3-Point Goals:
8-17, .471 (Clarke 0-2, Travieso 8-12, Padilla
0-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 6 (Ketner
2, Norville 2, Basit, Padilla). Turnovers: 20
(Padilla 7, Clarke 6, Basit 2, Ketner, Norville,
Smith, Travieso, Weeks). Steals: 9 (Padilla 4,
Travieso 2, Weeks 2, Clarke).

_______________________________________
Xavier Oh          32   40   15  -   87
Massachusetts      37   35   12  -   84
_______________________________________
Technical fouls: Xavier (Braggs).  A: 9,493.
Officials: Phil Bova, Stanley Rote, Richard
Staver.