LBANY, N.Y. -- The first 30 minutes belonged to St. Peter's. The last 10 belonged to Marcus Camby. That meant a victory for Massachusetts.

No question about it as Lou Roe snatches this rebound.

The second-seeded Minutemen received a scare from the 15th-seeded Peacocks before turning up the defense and pulling away to a 68-51 victory Friday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Massachusetts, with Camby blocking and altering shots, held St. Peter's to 2 points and no field goals over the final 11 minutes to thwart a bid for one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.

St. Peter's led 49-48 with 11:14 to play on a 3-pointer by Mike Frensley. The sellout crowd of 15,100 at Knickerbocker Arena was solidly behind the Peacocks as they tried to become the third 15th seed to win an NCAA game.

"We looked at the score with 11 minutes left and said if we didn't pick it up we were going home," Massachusetts forward Lou Roe said. "That's what we should have done at the start of the game. Our defense usually propels us to get it going but it didn't happen until the last minutes."

When it happened, it was impressive.

Massachusetts (27-4) was able to score in transition as Camby, a 6-foot-11 sophomore center, took over inside. His blocks led to fast-break baskets and, when the seventh-ranked Minutmen did slow it down, he was able to score on turnarounds, hooks and tip-ins.

"He just literally, single-handedly, took over that game in the final minutes, offensively and defensively," St. Peter's coach Ted Fiore said.

Camby finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. If he was a relief pitcher, he would have registered a save.

"His blocks really gave us inspiration on the defensive end," Massachusetts guard Derek Kellogg said. "When he's blocking shots all we have to do is pick the ball up and get out on the break."

The 15th-seeded Peacocks (19-11) were trying to follow the lead of Manhattan, the team they beat in the conference championship game, as Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams that knocked off schools from the big leagues. Manhattan beat fourth-seeded Oklahoma in the Southeast on Thursday.

"This is amateur basketball. Isn't that what it's all about," Fiore said. "This was a great experiece for the kids. They learned they can play pretty well against Massachusetts and what's wrong with that?"

After the 3-pointer by Frensley, the pony-tailed hero of the MAAC title game, the Peacocks came up empty on 12 straight possessions and missed their final 14 shots from the field.

Camby, who had more blocks this season than the entire St. Peter's team (85-77) blocked the first shot after Frensley's 3-pointer and altered at least two more in the run.

He wasn't too shabby on offense either once Massachusetts righted itself. He had 11 points in the game-ending run, ranging from tip-ins to a three-point play off a move in the lane to a thunderous dunk off an alley-oop pass from Lou Roe.

"In the first half I was forcing shots, bad shots," said Camby, who was 11-for-20 from the field. "In the second half I got it going, but we needed everyone to pick it up and they did."

The Minutemen, who have won four straight first-round NCAA games, will play 10th-seeded Stanford, which beat North Carolina Charlotte 70-68, in Sunday's second round.

Roe finished with 16 points, while Donta Bright had 10 for Massachusetts, which won the Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament championships the last four seasons.

"We were tentative in the first half, thinking a little too much instead of playing the game as it happens," Massachusetts coach John Calipari said. "Maybe we had a little bit of the heebie-jeebies for the first game and hopefully that won't happen Sunday."

Luis Arrosa led the Peacocks with 14 points, while Randy Holmes had 13.

The Minutemen shot 54 percent from the field in the second half (14-for-26), while holding St. Peter's to 37 percent (10-for-27).

"We were in the game the whole way," said Frensley, who finished with nine points. "It was obvious we were good enough to play with them. We could have won the game."

It was the second NCAA appearance for St. Peter's. The Peacocks lost to Texas in the first round in 1991.

MASSACHUSETTS (68) -- Dana Dingle 2-3 0-0 4, Donta Bright 4-9 1-2 10, Edgar Padilla 2-7 0-0 4, Derek Kellogg 1-5 1-2 4, Louis Roe 6-9 4-5 16, Marcus Camby 11-20 3-3 25, Carmelo Travieso 0-2 1-2 1, Tyrone Weeks 2-4 0-0 4, Rigoberto Nunez 0-1 0-0 0, Inus Norville 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28-60 (46.7%) 10-14 (71.4%) 68.

HALFTIME: Massachusetts 33, St. Peter's 27. 3-POINTERS: Massachusetts 2-11 (Bright 1-1, Kellogg 1-5, Travieso 0-2, Padilla 0-3), St. Peter's 2-5 (Griffith 1-1, Frensley 1-2, Holmes 0-2). REBOUNDS: Massachusetts 34 (Camby 7), St. Peter's 36 (Arrosa 9). ASSISTS: Massachusetts 7 (Bright 2), St. Peter's 10 (Griffith 3). FOULED OUT: Segar. TOTAL FOULS: Massachusetts 14, St. Peter's 15. ATTENDANCE: 15,100. RECORDS: Massachusetts 27-4, St. Peter's 19-11.

St. Peter's            27     24  --  51
Massachusetts          33     35  --  68