Washington Coach Adam Sanchez called the 69-63 nail-biter over Xavier Friday night the biggest win in his three years with the team.

It came awfully close, however, to the biggest letdown since the Warriors squandered a 20-point lead at halftime over Dubuque Hempstead earlier this season and lost by 10.

Parlaying dead-eye shooting and a stifling defense, Washington played to near perfection in building a 31-14 homecourt lead at halftime against the Saints. An 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter upped the margin to 56-33.

“I think at that point we started playing not to lose,” said Sanchez.

In a span of just four minutes, Xavier suddenly caught fire and went on a 25-6 spurt of its own to pull within four points with 1:20 still left to go.

“Fortunately,” the winning coach continued, “we held our composure. And we made just enough free throws at the end.”

They hit only seven of 12 in the last 70 seconds, but that was sufficient to stave off Xavier’s colossal comeback. Once again, it was too little and too late for the Saints.

In a 66-57 loss to Linn-Mar on Tuesday night they spotted the Lions a 36-15 advantage at halftime before making a furious but futile second-half charge.

“Two nights in a row,” bemoaned Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann. “Once again we were a step slow on defense in the first half.

“And Washington played terrific basketball. They were sharp offensively and hit all their shots.”

Junior Jared Printy, in particular, had a hot half for the Warriors, hitting all four of his 3-point attempt.

“He’s a scorer,” said Sanchez. “That’s what he does for us.”

Printy sank his only other 3-point attempt in the second half and shared scoring honors with senior center Maurice Arrington with 19 apiece.

“We were getting a lot of open looks,” Printy said. “And tonight they were falling for us.”

For the game, the Warriors (8-7, 6-4 MVC) made eight of 13 from long range and shot 52 percent overall.

Arrington was a force around the rim, getting several putbacks. His seven rebounds and 10 by fellow big man Keegan Moore helped the Warriors claim a 37-29 edge on the boards.

“Beating Xavier is always a big deal,” said Arrington. “And it will help us get a higher seed for the (postseason) tournament.”

While Washington was red hot, the Saints (8-7, 4-6 MVC) were ice cold in the opening half. They made only five of 21 shots, including two for eight from behind the arc. They rallied back in the second half, however, finishing up with 40 percent shooting.

Spunky point guard Mitchell Burger led the way 16 points on six of nine shooting, while leading scorers Adam McDermott and Calvin Winker recovered from a listless first half to end up with 14 apiece.

“We picked up the pace in the second half,” Luehrsmann noted. “We were more aggressive on defense, and our full-out press helped. And our execution on offense got a lot better.”

It just wasn’t quite good enough. Once again.

XAVIER (63) – Michael Mims 4 0-0 11, Adam McDermott 4 3-4 14, Mitchell Burger 6 2-3 16, Calvin Winker 6 2-2 14, Ryan Stulken 0 0-0 0, Connor Ramlo 0 0-0 0, Joe Welch 2 0-0 4, Matt Downey 1 0-0 3, Noah Clasen 0 0-0 0, Tim Otting 0 1-2 1. Totals 23 8-11 63.

WASHINGTON (69) – Steven Kramer 2 0-0 6, Hunter Strait 2 5-8 10, Maurice Arrington 7 5-9 19, Keegan Moore 0 0-0 0, Jared Printy 6 2-2 19, Drew Hoeger 1 0-0 2, Keion Wills 2 1-3 5, Leveechie Williams 4 0-0 8, Noah Dawson 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 13-24 69.

Halftime – Washington 31, Xavier 14. 3-point goals – Xavier 9 (Mims 3, McDermott 3, Burger 2, Downey 1), Washington 8 (Printy 5, Kramer 2, Strait 1).  Total fouls – Xavier 18, Washington 17. Fouled out – Kramer.