ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- A little tough love from coach Phil Martelli has Saint Joseph's on the verge of returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years.

Martelli was blunt with his players on the eve of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, telling them to win or pack their bags. There was going to be no NCAA or even an NIT bid if the Hawks didn't run the tournament.

Guess what, Saint Joseph's has rolled over three consecutive opponents, and No. 10 Xavier became the latest victim last night, falling 61-53.

Pat Calathes scored 24 points to lead the way and Saint Joseph's held top-seeded Xavier to a season-low point total in the process.

"I'm telling you if we had lost any one of these last three games we were going home for good," Martelli said. "If that put a little knot in their stomachs, good, because I've had a knot in my stomach trying to figure out what the right message was to deliver was, and it worked with this group."

Fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's (21-11) can lock up its first NCAA tournament berth since 2003-04 tonight in the championship game.

"All year long we've been breaking our huddle with 'One, Two, Three, Championship!'" Martelli said. "Now we're 40 minutes away."

Despite the loss, the top-seeded Musketeers (27-6) are all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament when the selections are announced tomorrow.

"Winning 27 games I know it has put us in a good position," said Xavier coach Sean Miller, a Blackhawk High School and Pitt graduate. "Our goal all season has been to get back to the tournament and once we get their to fight like crazy to advance."

Ahmad Nivins added 15 points for the Hawks, whose tough man-to-man defense limited Xavier to 37-percent shooting from the field, including only one basket outside the paint.

Josh Duncan had 11 points and Jason Love added 10 points and nine rebounds for Xavier, which was 1 of 14 from 3-point range.

"We had a day today that all teams experience," Miller said. "We just didn't shoot the ball very well."

The Hawks, who dominated Fordham and Richmond in the first two rounds of the tournament, took control with a 15-0 run that bridged the end of the first half and the start of the second, putting them ahead, 35-20.

Calathes had a 3-point play and a 3-pointer as Saint Joseph's scored the final 10 points of the opening half. The senior forward also hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the second half to short-circuit every run by Xavier.

Xavier was averaging 76 points and had not had fewer than 55 (against Arizona State Dec 15) in any game.

"There's not just one player on that team," Calathes said. "They have five guys that can go out and score 20 points on you any night. We just strapped it up and did the best we could."