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A significant delay in action in the second half of Wednesday's No. 11 Providence vs. Xavier game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center because of water on the court might've been a sign from above that a marathon match was on tap and a respite in play was warranted. The two teams tussled all the way to triple overtime in a game that spanned more than three and a half hours before finishing, finally, with the Friars holding serve at home for a 99-92 win.

The water delay was the early headline of the bout as play was stopped with 2:43 remaining for more than 15 minutes while arena officials worked to find a solution for the drip in The Dunk's roof. It looked dicey as to whether the game would even be finished because of the problem at one point -- arena personnel were on the floor with towels drying the court even after play resumed to avoid a longer delay -- but not even a little water from above couldn't rain on the biggest parade of the evening in college basketball.

The rain delay inside the arena certainly created some chaos but once play resumed, the game turned out to be one of the Big East's best bouts of the season. Not only did it have a leaky roof as a fun twist to it all -- which was its own scene and not the first time something like this has happened at the Dunkin' Donuts Center -- but it also had other wacky moments as well, like the replay monitor freezing up in a critical moment in double overtime (after the clip below), a late Flagrant One foul helping push to the third overtime, and (oh by the way) Providence inching one step closer to a conference title in the process. 

Providence's Jared Bynum came in off the bench but big nonetheless, throwing in a game-high 27 points -- including a big bucket late in the second overtime and an even bigger one in the third overtime that effectively iced the game -- in the winning effort. He went 5-of-10 from deep and the Friars finished 14-of-30 as a team from distance. Xavier struggled shooting it from outside and a banged-up Paul Scruggs, who finished with 19 points, didn't help the effort as the Musketeers dropped their third straight in league play.

The win for Providence moves it to 23-3 on the season and it can clinch a regular season Big East title -- which would be the first in program history -- at home on Saturday against Creighton.