Last night, on what should have been a no-call, a replacement referee blew his whistle with three-tenths of a seconds remaining. Afterward, the Sixers chalked it up to preseason rust - theirs as well as the referee's.

Washington Wizards guard Mike James, the beneficiary of the end-of-game gift, made a couple of free throws to give his team a surprising 90-89 exhibition victory at the Wachovia Center.

The game appeared to be decided when, with exactly one tick on the clock, reserve guard Willie Green made 1 of 2 free throws, giving the Sixers an 89-88 lead.

After a time-out, the Wizards took the ball on the sideline and James heaved a shot, apparently untouched, that fell well short of the rim. Victory confetti was released from the rafters.

Game over, right?

No.

To a chorus of boos, amid much confusion, the referees showed James to the free-throw line, awarding him three free throws. He made as many as he needed.

Officially, the foul was called on Green, but in repeated viewings of replays, he did not appear to touch James.

"It's the preseason," said Sixers coach Eddie Jordan with a smile. "We're all a little bit rusty."

The Sixers are 5-2 in their preseason schedule, which will conclude Friday night against the New Jersey Nets at St. John's University.

"Nah, I didn't think it was a foul," said Green, who finished with three points. "It's preseason and it's a good time for everybody to get the rust off. It wasn't a situation [in which] I was going to be upset at the ref or anything. . . .

"I went and asked him what he thought of the call. He said, 'I thought it was a foul, but you know what, I shouldn't have made that call because it wasn't clear-cut.' "

Replacement referees Ben Taylor, Ivan Jackson, and Garrick Shannon worked the game.

Former Villanova star Randy Foye led the Wizards with 17 points.

Starting point guard Lou Williams scored 13 points for the Sixers . Reserve power forwards Marreese Speights and Jason Smith combined for 25.

Jordan's new Princeton offense remains a work in progress for the Sixers . "It's a struggle a little bit," said swingman Andre Iguodala, who scored a game-high 19 points.

Just a little bit of rust that needs knocking off.

Out, out, out. The Wizards were missing, arguably, their three best players: Gilbert Arenas (flu symptoms), Antawn Jamison (right shoulder), and Mike Miller (flu symptoms).

Still sidelined. Sixers forward Rodney Carney did not play last night because of a strained left hamstring he suffered during training camp. Carney has yet to play this preseason.

See video of Willie Green talking about the controversy on Kate Fagan's 76ers blog, Deep Sixer ,

at http://go.philly.com/sports.

Contact staff writer Kate Fagan at 856-779-3844 or kfagan@phillynews.com.