LEAN, N.Y. - In one stretch this season, they appeared to have recaptured the fire and relentlessness that made them one of the most powerful teams in college basketball. Now they just look tired.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the University of Massachusetts has rallied to force overtimes in each of its last three games - a school record. Truth is, if they had played with the same intensity as in late January and early February, the Minutemen probably would have won all three in regulation.

Instead, they lost their second in three outings. St. Bonaventure guard Tim Winn, who didn't play in the Bonnies' loss to UMass Jan. 19 because of a severely sprained ankle, drained a 3-point basket with 6.1 seconds left, giving the Bonnies a 72-70 double-overtime Atlantic 10 win over the 20th-ranked Minutemen last night.

The win was St. Bonaventure's first over UMass in the 1990s and snapped a 20-game losing streak against the Minutemen. Center Caswell Cyrus had a game-high 25 points for the Bonnies, who claimed their third victory over a Top 25 team this season, having previously beaten No. 20 Rhode Island and No. 13 Xavier. St. Bonaventure improved to 16-12 overall, 6-9 in the league.

The loss dropped UMass (20-8, 12-3) into a tie with Temple in the A-10 East heading into their showdown in Philadelphia Sunday. The winner claims the A-10 regular-season title and a first-round bye in next week's league tournament. If UMass loses, it finishes third behind Temple and Rhode Island and must play a first-round game. Temple, which will finish no lower than second, already has secured a bye.

UMass went ahead, 68-64, with 3:03 left in the second overtime on consecutive buckets by Tyrone Weeks (21 points, 17 in the second half). But then things fell apart. Foward Mike Babul turned the ball over to forward Rashaan Palmer (17 points), who scored on a layup. After UMass guard Monty Mack missed a jumper, Palmer converted a 3-point play that put the Bonnies up, 69-68, with 1:40 to go.

''We're up by 4 and we've got the ball and Mike Babul throws the ball away and Palmer makes a layup. That sums it up right there,'' said UMass coach Bruiser Flint, whose team once again came out flat in the first half, shooting 36 percent from the floor. Looking weary and punchless at times, UMass had 21 turnovers. ''Many of those weren't forced,'' said Flint.

Still, with 19.6 seconds left in the second overtime, UMass went ahead on Mack's pull-up jumper. Then Winn, with Mack guarding him, hit a 23-foot trey. Controversy ensued: Officials went to both benches and declared the teams were out of timeouts. UMass threw the ball away with .2 seconds left and the partisan crowd stormed the floor. St. Bonaventure then called a timeout and was granted one, infuriating Flint.

''He said he didn't call a timeout; that's what he said,'' said Flint, referring to St. Bonaventure coach Jim Baron. ''Their manager was putting chairs on the floor; that's what gave it away. But you don't expect them to make that call.''

Baron later said St. Bonaventure had a timeout left that was reflected on the scoreboard and in both scorers' books. ''But we didn't call it,'' he said. St. Bonaventure inbounded and then the fans took the floor again.

Just a few weeks ago, the Minutemen were 9-0 in league play and had all the signs of returning to the kind of play that earned them five consecutive A-10 titles. Not now.

he Massachusetts men's basketball team has been playing with fire lately, and last night in Olean, N.Y., the St. Bonaventure Bonnies burned the Minutemen.

Bonnies guard Tim Winn hit an NBA-range three-pointer with only a few tics remaining in the second overtime to give St. Bonaventure a 72-70 lead before an enthused Reilly Center crowd. Charlton Clarke's desperation three-point attempt was off the mark as time expired.

With the win, St. Bonaventure (16-12, 6-9 Atlantic 10) snapped a 20-game losing streak at the hands of the Minutemen.

UMass, which moves to 20-8, 12-3, blew an opportunity to clinch a first-round bye in next week's conference tourney (March 4-7). Now, the Minutemen will need to beat Temple in Philadelphia on Sunday in the season finale to sure up the bye and the regular season title.

"Our backs are up against the wall now," Massachusetts coach Bruiser Flint said. "But we had our chances tonight and couldn't hit our free throws."

The Minutemen rallied from a second-half deficit that climbed as high as 12 points. UMass used a 9-2 run early in the half to stay close. Lari Ketner scored a pair of baskets, and Weeks knocked down two free throws before Monty Mack's three pulled UMass to within seven.

Lari Ketner chipped in 18 points on 9-12 field goal shooting.

Ketner finished with a team-high 18 points, while Weeks added 17. The two combined to shoot 15-for-20 from the floor.

With just over two minutes to play in regulation, Weeks - with a chance to give UMass the lead - converted on only one of two free throws to even the game at 57.

Rashaan Palmer's jumpshot at the buzzer fell short, and the game entered its first overtime.

UMass was only 6-for-13 from the foul line, while the Bonnies hit 17-of-20.

"If we make some foul shots, then we don't even go to overtime," Flint said.

In overtime, Ketner's baseline jumper with under a minute to go gave the Minutemen a 62-60 edge. But James Singleton responded seconds later with a foul line jumper to tie the game once again.

With only six seconds remaining, Jonathan DePina fouled Winn on his way to the basket. The sophomore knocked down both shots to put the Bonnies up by a basket.

But on the ensuing play, Mack's miss from outside the foul line was jammed home by Ketner to send the game into another extra session.

There, UMass raced out to a four-point lead. But following a Mike Babul errant pass and turnover, that resulted in a fast break lay-in for Palmer, Palmer cashed in on a three-point opportunity to put the Bonnies up a point, 69-68.

With 19 seconds left, Mack, who finished with 15 points and seven turnovers, knocked down an 18-footer to put UMass up 70-69, before Winn sent the Bonnies' fans home happy.

St. Bonaventure opened the game on a 13-2 run and held a commanding 35-24 lead at the half. Center Caswell Cyrus had a career game. The sophomore posted 25 points and 12 rebounds in 42 minutes.

The Minutemen didn't help their case much, shooting only 35 percent in the first half, while committing 20 turnovers for the game.

"We can't keep putting ourselves behind and thinking we're going to win," Flint said. "We had so many opportunities to win this game, but we threw the ball away and couldn't make a free throw."

Material from WHMP-FM was used for this article.

LEAN, N.Y. - This time, Charlton Clarke's game-saving three-point attempt was off the mark.

With No. 20 University of Massachusetts leading 70-69 with 6.1 seconds remaining in double overtime, St. Bonaventure sophomore point guard Tim Winn nailed an NBA-range 3-pointer to give the Bonnies a two-point lead. The Minutemen called time-out and then rushed the ball up court to Clarke, who had hit game-saving shots in UMass' last two contests. This time, though, his shot bounced off the rim as St. Bonaventure pulled out a 72-70 win in Atlantic 10 action at the Reilly Center.

"Tim Winn hit real a big one," UMass coach Bruiser Flint said. "The Bonnies played well tonight. They deserved to win. They've been tough to beat up here all season."

The game wasn't without controversy. After Clarke's shot missed, the rebound bounced out of bounds off UMass (20-8, 12-3, A-10) with .2 seconds left. The Bonnie crowd rushed the floor, thinking the game was over. Trying to restore order, Jim Baron made a "T" with his hands. The Bonnie student managers brought chairs onto the floor for the players to sit in, and the official timekeeper noted that a time-out had been called. But earlier, with 51.3 seconds remaining, referee Tom Scott had gone to the scorers table and indicated that no time-outs remained. UMass coach Bruiser Flint went ballistic on the sideline, thinking Baron had no time-outs left to call.

No time-out was granted, and after the game Baron claimed never to have called one. Both teams' scorebooks showed that St. Bonaventure (16-12, 6-9 A-10) did have a time-out available and that Scott was wrong, but Flint was still frustrated after the game.

"They said they didn't call a time-out," Flint said. "But the managers were putting the chairs out on the floor. That was the thing that gave it away. But you don't expect them to call that."

The win turns Sunday's game with Temple (12:30 p.m.) into a contest with considerable stakes. If UMass wins, it captures the Atlantic 10 East and the No. 1 seed in the A-10 Tournament. If the Minutemen lose, Temple wins the regular season conference title and UMass drops to the No. 3 seed in the East. That means it would lose a first-round bye and would be forced to play Wednesday instead of Thursday.

Ketner blocks a Bonnie shot as Jon DePina looks on.

The Minutemen led 68-64 with 3:03 remaining in the second overtime, but Winn picked off a bad pass by Mike Babul and fed Rashaan Palmer for an easy lay-up. After Monty Mack missed at the other end, Palmer struck again. He drove to the basket and put up a shot while being fouled by Babul. After hanging on the front of the rim for what seemed like an eternity, the ball dropped in. Palmer completed the three-point play to put the home team ahead 69-68 with 1:40 left.

Neither team scored again until 19.8 seconds were left, when Mack took two steps in from the three-point line and sank a jumper with a hand in his face to put UMass ahead and set up Winn's heroics.

St. Bonaventure nearly put the game away in the first overtime. After Lari Ketner sank a one-handed jump shot over a double-team that put UMass up 62-60 with just over a minute remaining, James Singleton hit a pull-up jumper to tie the game at 62-62 with 38.5 seconds left. UMass had a chance to get the last shot without much time left if it could hold on to the ball, but Singleton stripped the ball from Mack to give the Bonnies the ball back with 22 seconds left.

Jonathan DePina was called for a hand check, sending Winn to the free throw line for a one and one with six seconds to play. He converted both ends to put St. Bonaventure ahead, 64-62. After a time-out, Chris Kirkland threw the inbounds pass to Tyrone Weeks at halfcourt. He dished off to Mack, who missed an eight-footer, but Ketner jammed home the rebound with two hands to send the game to double overtime.

Caswell Cyrus led all scorers with a career-high 25 points to go with 12 rebounds for the Bonnies, while Palmer added 17.

Monty Mack found his scoring touch again with 17 points, but it wasn't enough to help the Minutemen.

If UMass can find a bright spot in the loss it was 21 points from Weeks, who had struggled of late. Ketner finished with 18, while Mack added 17.

"Tyrone played well," Flint said. "He stepped up in the second half and played well. He came up with some big buckets and big rebounds."

UMass dug itself a hole early. St. Bonaventure opened the game with a 7-0 run, which it extended to 13-2 in the first six minutes, a stretch that also saw Weeks and Ajmal Basit pick up two fouls each. The Minutemen displayed their own version of Murphy's Law over the entire first half, doing everything poorly as the closest UMass got was six points and finished the half trailing 35-24.

The Minutemen shot just 36 percent from the floor and an equally dismal 43 percent from the free throw line, while turning the ball over 12 times.

"We didn't come to play," Flint said. "Charlton shot 2-for-14, 1-for-9 from three (point land), he wasn't ready tonight. Neither were Mike Babul or Chris Kirkland."

The Minutemen finally strung together a series of good shooting, defense and ball handling with just under nine minutes left in the game and trailing 51-43. Ketner started the 13-2 run with a spin move into a hook shot. In UMass' next possession, Ketner served up a two-handed dunk on Singleton. Clarke's only 3-pointer of the game cut the deficit to 51-50.

The UMass defense, which often looked passive last night, forced Singleton to heave a long three-point attempt that missed and Weeks grabbed the rebound. Mack's curling jump shot in the lane gave UMass its first lead, 52-51 with 5:19 to go. The teams traded leads until Weeks sank one of two free throws with 2:08 left to tie the game at 57-57. Neither team scored in the remainder of regulation, forcing UMass into its third straight overtime affair.

Turnovers and missed free throws haunted the Minutemen throughout. Weeks, usually reliable from the charity stripe , missed one late in regulation and a front end of a one-and-one in double overtime. Ketner missed a front end in the first overtime as the Minutmen finished a miserable 6-of-14 from the line. UMass turned the ball over 21 times, including seven by Mack.

"We had 12 turnovers in the first half and some of those were unforced," Flint said. "If Lari made a couple of free throws, I don't know if we would have even gone to another overtime."

LEAN, N.Y. - The University of Massachusetts bandwagon, which was overflowing in January, has hit a few bumps in the road over the past few weeks and appears in need of a tuneup as February, and the regular season, draws to a close.

UMass hasn't put together a solid effort since Feb. 8, when the Minutemen beat then No. 21 Xavier, 73-62, in Cincinnati. Since then the Minutemen have played close games with Duquesne, LaSalle and St. Joseph's, teams that had a combined record of 27-46 prior to Wednesday night, but were able to escape with lackluster victories intertwined with a loss to Rhode Island and now St. Bonaventure.

The slide could prove costly. Just over a week ago, the No. 1 seed and a first round bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament seemed like forgone conclusions for the Minutemen. Both will be lost if UMass can't defeat Temple in Philadelphia on Sunday. While the Minutemen are generally considered a lock to get an NCAA Tournament berth, their seed potential, once believed to be as high as a No. 3, appears to be slipping. Advancing through the tournament with a low seed is much more difficult. It also makes the possibility of the Minutemen getting seeded in Hartford less likely as well.

UMass coach Bruiser Flint said that he isn't ready to panic on his team yet.

"I'm not worried yet," he said. "We're still playing for the championship on Sunday. Some guys just have to refocus. That's it. We're not the first team to come up here and lose. We just have to beat Temple."

* * *

WHILE last night's loss sent the University of Massachusetts' season into a whirlwind of uncertainty, the win marked a huge milestone for the hosts. The win nearly guarantees the Mustard and Brown a trip to the National Invitation Tournament.

"This one felt like a heavyweight fight that went about 20 rounds," said coach Jim Baron. "This is one of the greatest wins I've ever been associated with."

The victory was St. Bonaventure's first over UMass in its last 20 tries, a streak that Rashaan Palmer, who was playing in his last home game, was glad to see end.

"It's like a huge monkey has been lifted from my back. It's nice to beat these guys on senior night."

Flint said that this year's Bonnies are nothing like their predecessors that started that streak.

"They got better guys," Flint said. "Jim Baron's done a great job and Caswell Cyrus and Tim Winn are two of the best young players in the league. They're going to be good."

MASSACHUSETTS (70)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Mack            50  7-15   0-0   2-7  2  1   17
Weeks           36  8-10   5-9   1-6  0  3   21
Ketner          49  9-12   0-2   3-6  0  3   18
Clarke          49  2-14   0-0   3-6  7  1    5
Babul           16   1-1   0-1   0-0  1  4    2
Depina          27   0-4   0-0   0-3  5  5    0
Kirkland        11   1-2   0-0   1-3  0  0    2
Basit           12   2-3   1-2   3-5  0  4    5
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         250 30-61  6-14 13-36 15 21   70
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.492, FT-.429. 3-Point Goals:
4-16, .250 (Mack 3-7, Clarke 1-9). Team rebounds:
9. Blocked shots: 2 (Ketner, Babul). Turnovers:
21 (Mack 7, Babul 3, Basit 3, Clarke 3, Depina 2,
Kirkland 2, Weeks). Steals: 5 (Clarke 3, Mack,
Weeks).

ST BONAVENTURE (72)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Palmer          36  6-17   5-6   1-3  2  3   17
Durham          29   0-0   2-2   1-3  3  3    2
Cyrus           47 10-18   5-7  8-13  0  4   25
Winn            48  3-11   4-4   0-3  4  2   12
Singleton       48   3-9   0-0   1-3  1  3    8
Capers          16   1-3   2-2   0-2  0  0    4
King             2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Van Paassen     21   2-4   0-0   1-2  1  3    4
Lumsdon          3   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         250 25-63 18-21 12-29 11 18   72
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.397, FT-.857. 3-Point Goals:
4-16, .250 (Palmer 0-1, Winn 2-6, Singleton 2-8,
Capers 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots:
None. Turnovers: 12 (Palmer 4, Winn 4, Cyrus 2,
Capers, Durham). Steals: 10 (Singleton 4, Winn 3,
Cyrus, Durham, Palmer).
____________________________________________
Massachusetts      24   33    7    6  -   70
St Bonaventure     35   22    7    8  -   72
____________________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 6,000. Officials:
Glenn Mayborg, Tom Scott, David Day.