DIXON'S 25-POINTS LEDS SPALDING 2/12/2005 True to form, Archbishop Spalding and top-ranked Mount St. Joseph played another in their seemingly endless series of heart-stopping, down to the wire basketball thrillers, last night at Spalding. The Cavaliers, however, revised the familiar closing script and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Gaels, which dates back three years, as senior Lawrence Dixon scored 25-points and made a huge play on each end of the court, in the final minute, to secure a 58-56 MIAA A Conference win. Trailing by one with 31-seconds remaining, Spalding went in front when Dixon converted a traditional three-point play. He then blocked a shot by St. Joe's Louis Birdsong, with 15-seconds left, as the Gaels attempted to tie. St. Joe then squandered a final a chance to tie when senior Brian Johnson missed a pair of free throws, with four-seconds left, before Dixon snared the rebound and ran out the clock. After escaping an upset bid from Calvert Hall with a two-point win, earlier this week, St. Joe (25-2, 13-1) lost for the first time this season in the league. The Gaels, however, have already locked up the top seed for the league playoffs, which get underway next week. Spalding, the defending A Conference champion, will enter the playoffs as the sixth-seed, demonstrating the overall strength of the league. The Cavaliers (20-10, 7-8) seem to have recovered from a difficult mid-season stretch which saw them lose seven of nine and nearly fall out of playoff contention. Last night's win, however, was Spalding's third straight and the fifth in its last six games. This is certainly not a team any of the higher seeds want to draw in the opening round of the playoffs. In addition to Dixon, Spalding got 17-points from Justin Castleberry and 10 from Marquis Sullivan. St. Joe was paced by 12-points from Greg Woody