PHILADELPHIA (AP) Xavier didn't get a lot of attention before the season. Now, the Musketeers probably have their conference's only NCAA tournament berth.

David West had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Lionel Chalmers added 19 points to lead No. 24 Xavier to a 73-60 victory over Richmond for the Atlantic 10 tournament championship Saturday night.

Xavier (25-5), which held the Spiders without a field goal for the final 7:12, heads to the NCAAs for the second straight year after missing it the previous two seasons.

"From the beginning, since September, nobody gave us a shot with a new coach, we lost too many people, we weren't tested," West said. "Then we win the regular-season championship and come here, and again we didn't have a shot because other teams were hot and it was theirs to lose."

Richmond (19-13) hasn't reached the NCAAs since 1998, but exceeded expectations in its first season in the A-10 after years of success in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Reggie Brown had 18 points, and Scott Ungerer added 15 for the Spiders, who missed their last 11 shots.

"It's heartbreaking, but it's not going to take away from what we achieved," Ungerer said. "A lot of people didn't think we'd be up here."

Xavier used a 12-0 run to take a 58-49 lead 8:06 into the second half. Chalmers, Romain Sato and Alvin Brown each made 3-pointers during the spurt.

Richmond answered with nine straight points, tying it when Mike Skrocki scored on a goaltending call against Keith Jackson. But the Spiders went scoreless over the next 6:04.

Chalmers made a free throw and hit a 3-pointer, igniting a 12-0 run that gave the Musketeers a 70-58 lead with 1:28 left.

After Chalmers' 3, West made two free throws, Kevin Frey and West scored on layups, and Chalmers had a layup.

Richmond didn't score again until Skrocki hit two free throws with 1:08 left.

"Our main focus at halftime was, we have to get stops," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "There's no question we won this on defense."

The A-10 tournament moves to Dayton the next two seasons after 14 years in Philadelphia. It was the first time since 1998, and just the second time in the last 10 years, that a Philadelphia school didn't play in the final.

Saint Joseph's, which began the season ranked No. 10, was eliminated by Dayton in the quarterfinals.

Temple, ranked No. 16 in the preseason and the two-time defending tournament champions, didn't make it past the quarterfinals for the first time in school history, losing to La Salle. The Explorers lost to Richmond in the semifinals.

The Spiders went on a 12-0 run to take a 26-22 lead with 4:43 left in the first half. Reggie Brown hit a 3-pointer to begin the spurt, and Tony Dobbins finished it with a steal and fast-break layup.

After West made two free throws for Xavier, Reggie Brown had a jumper and a layup sandwiched around a 3-pointer by Ungerer, giving the Spiders a 33-24 lead.

Sato, Xavier's second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, didn't score until making a layup 2:02 into the second half. He then scored six straight points after Jackson made two free throws.

Sato finished with 11 points, but he fouled out with 4:49 left.

"Their defense was great," Reggie Brown said. "It seemed every play we ran, they knew what it was."

Xavier now hopes for a high seed in the NCAA tournament.

"We made a push to be a No. 5 or No. 6," West said. "Other teams have helped us by losing. We've won 20 of 22 and we have a great record on the road."

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