Amherst, MA (Sports Network) - Drew Lavender scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds, leading 23rd-ranked Xavier to a 77-65 victory over Massachusetts at the Mullins Center.

Derrick Brown added 14 points and C.J. Anderson chipped in 13 for the Musketeers (17-4, 5-1 Atlantic 10), who have won three straight and nine of their last 10. Xavier won despite making only 4-of-22 three-point tries.

"We struggled shooting the three," said Xavier head coach Sean Miller. "For our basketball team to be able to win this game, knowing we can be playing better on offense, is something that is very meaningful to our future. I think, as we all know, there are going to be nights when the offense comes and goes, but tough defense has to be the constant."

Etienne Brower scored 22 points and Gary Forbes contributed 16 for UMass (13-6, 2-3), which has lost two straight and four of its last six. Ricky Harris, second in the conference at 20.7 points per game, was held to just seven on 2-of-8 shooting for the Minutemen.

"They [Xavier] did a good job of not letting Ricky get many shots," noted UMass head coach Travis Ford. "Ricky gets a lot of shots off of Chris Lowe and Gary Forbes, driving and kicking. They didn't allow that tonight."

The game was tight for the first seven minutes before Xavier opened some breathing room with a 12-1 run. Brown scored four points and Lavender and B.J. Raymond drilled three-pointers to fuel the burst, which turned a 9-9 game into a 21-10 Xavier lead with 9:20 remaining in the half.

UMass pulled within 27-20 before the Musketeers ran off the next seven points, the last three coming on a shot from beyond the arc by Raymond with eight seconds left. Chris Lowe, though, countered with a three-pointer as time expired to make it a 34-23 game at the break.

The Minutemen again got as close as seven early in the second half, but the Musketeers pulled away one more time. After a layup by Forbes drew UMass within 37-30, Xavier answered with 12 of the 13 nine points. Stanley Burrell's layup in transition gave the Musketeers a 49-31 cushion with just under 16 minutes to play.

UMass slowly chipped away and made it a 10-point game, 58-48, on a Forbes jumper with just over eight minutes remaining, then pulled within seven on a Lowe layup with just under five minutes left.

It was still a seven-point margin after a Forbes three-pointer with 2:12 left made it 68-61, and a Xavier turnover in the backcourt led to a driving layin by Harris to pull the Minutemen with five.

That was as close as it got.

Josh Duncan stemmed the tide with a reverse layup on the other end, and a quick UMass miss led to a breakaway dunk by Raymond. Another miss was followed by a Brown layup, before a long three-pointer by Lavender in the closing seconds sealed it.