AP Photo

March 13, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Duquesne is a win away from its first NCAA tournament berth in 32 years, just 2 1/2 years after five basketball players were shot in the school’s worst incident of on-campus violence.

Aaron Jackson and Melquan Bolding scored 24 points each and the seventh-seeded Dukes won their third game in as many days with a 77-66 victory over Dayton in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Friday night.

Duquesne (21-11) will play fourth-seed Temple (21-11) on Saturday night for the A10 title and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The Owls upset No. 19 Xavier 55-53 in the opening semifinal at Boardwalk Hall in this casino resort.

“When you sit in the locker room and the coach says ‘Bring it in,’ you realize you are playing for a championship,” said Jackson, a senior guard and the only player who was shot who remains on the team. “It’s something basketball players dream of their whole career.

“I won two championships in high school and I thought about it after my freshman year in college that I might not get a chance to win a championship again,” he added. “Now we’re playing for a championship tomorrow, a college championship in a good conference. I’m so excited.”

Jackson even joked that he would get a Duquesne tattoo if the team wins, a violation of coach Ron Everhart’s rules.

When Everhart reminded him during the postgame news conference, Jackson laughed.

“I’m out of here,” he said.

The postseason run is a welcome bright spot for a program that endured a dark moment on Sept. 17, 2006, when players Sam Ashaolu, Kojo Mensah, Shawn James, Stuard Baldonado and Aaron Jackson were injured when they were shot as they left an on-campus dance.

Eric Evans added 12 points as Duquesne won its third straight tournament game and posted its second straight upset in knocking off the third-seeded Flyers (26-7). They beat second-seeded Rhode Island in the quarterfinals.

If Duquesne wins, it would give the city of Pittsburgh three teams in the NCAA tournament with the Dukes joining Pittsburgh and Robert Morris.

“The good part is we made it a realistic situation for us,” Everhart said. “Hopefully our guys understand that. They have had a great grasp on how to handle tournament play. If you would have told me a month ago, two months ago that this group of guys with eight freshmen and Aaron as our only senior would handle this situation that way I would have doubted that seriously. It’s amazing to me how fast this ballclub has grown up.”

Duquesne has not been to a postseason tournament since 1994, when it made the NIT.

Mickey Perry had 15 points to lead Dayton, which beat Duquesne twice during the regular season. Charles Little added 13 points and Chris Wright had 12 for the Flyers, who will have to wait until Sunday to find out whether they will get their first NCAA tournament berth since 2004.

“Hopefully we’ll get a chance to do something special next week,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said.

Bolding hit two of his career-hit seven 3-pointers during a 14-5 first half spurt that gave Duquesne a 29-19 lead. The Dukes took a 35-29 lead to the locker room and they never lost it in the second half.

“I just felt like I couldn’t miss today,” said Bolding, who was 7 of 10 from long range. “My teammates did a great job of passing me the ball and I just knocked down the shots.”

March 13, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Through Games Played on Friday, March 13th

Updated Daily Here on Out

1 Seeds

UNC, Pittsburgh, Memphis, UConn

2 Seeds

Louisville, Duke, Michigan St., Oklahoma

3 Seeds

Missouri, Kansas, Washington, Syracuse

4 Seeds

Gonzaga, Villanova, Wake Forest, UCLA

5 Seeds

Xavier, Arizona St., West Virginia, Illinois

6 Seeds

Purdue, Clemson, Florida St., LSU

7 Seeds

Marquette, Utah, BYU, Butler

8 Seeds

Tennessee, Oklahoma St., California, San Diego St.

9 Seeds

Texas, Siena, Utah St., Minnesota

10 Seeds

Temple, Ohio St., Texas A&M, Michigan

11 Seeds

Arizona, Dayton, Creighton, VCU

12 Seeds

USC, Maryland, Auburn, Cleveland St.

13 Seeds

Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky, North Dakota St., Stephen F. Austin

14 Seeds

American, Buffalo, Cornell, East Tennessee, St.

15 Seeds

Robert Morris, Portland St., Cal St. Northridge, Binghamton

16 Seeds

Radford, Morehead St., Morgan St. Play-in Game: Chattanooga vs. Alabama St.

Last Four In:

Creighton, USC, Maryland, Auburn

First Four Out:

Wisconsin, Boston College, Florida, St. Mary’s

Next Four Out:

Penn St., Virginia Tech, Illinois St., South Carolina

Multiple Conference Bids

Big East (7), ACC (6), Big 12 (6), Big Ten (6), Pac 10 (6), SEC (3), Atlantic 10 (3), Mountain West (3), Horizon (2), Missouri Valley (2).

AP Photo

March 12, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Marcus Johnson scored 15 points, including two 3-pointers during a crucial second-half stretch, to lead third-seeded Dayton to a 69-64 win over sixth-seeded Richmond in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.

Luke Fabrizius had 11 points and Chris Johnson tallied 10 for the Flyers (26-6), who will play Duquesne in a semifinal game Friday night.

Kevin Anderson scored 24 points to lead Richmond (18-15). Kevin Butler also reached double figures for the Spiders with 13 points.

Dayton took its largest lead of the game when Paul Williams made a pair of free throws to put the Flyers ahead 53-44 with 8:39 remaining. Anderson’s 3-pointer capped a 9-1 Richmond run that pulled the Spiders within one 54-53 with 6:33 remaining.

But Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers as Dayton scored eight of the next nine over 2:34 to take a 62-54 lead, and Richmond never got closer than five after that.

AP Press

March 12, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Damian Saunders had 20 points to lead Duquesne to a 78-74 win over Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 tournament on Thursday.

Bill Clark finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Aaron Jackson added 17 points for the Dukes (20-11), who advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 1994.

Jimmy Baron had eight 3-pointers and finished with 26 points for the Rams (22-10), while Kahiem Seawright had 13 points and Keith Cothran and Will Martell each scored 10.

The teams traded baskets for most of the game, which saw 13 ties and seven lead changes. But Duquesne finally went ahead for good on Clark’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left, which gave his team a 72-69 lead.

AP Photo

March 12, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Ryan Brooks had 19 points to lead four players in double figures and lift Temple over Saint Joseph’s 79-65 in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Thursday.

Sergio Olmos had 14 points and Semaj Inge and Craig Williams added 12 apiece for the defending champion Owls (20-11), who will now face No. 19 Xavier in a semifinal game Friday. Tasheed Carr matched his career high with 23 points and Ahmad Nivins had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Saint Joseph’s (17-15).

The Owl, who were in command for most of the game, led 43-28 at halftime and stretched their advantage to 22 points, 58-36, with 10:15 left. The Hawks then got as close as nine when Darrin Govens converted a layup to make it 65-56 with 4:31 remaining, but Lavoy Allen scored two straight baskets and the Owls maintained double-digit leads for the rest of the game.

AP Photo

March 12, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — B.J. Raymond had 18 points to lead No. 19 Xavier to a 66-47 victory over Saint Louis in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 championship on Thursday.

C.J. Anderson added 15 points and Jason Love had 10 for top-seeded Xavier (25-6, 13-4). The Musketeers meet the winner of Thursday’s second quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Temple and fifth-seeded Saint Joseph’s on Friday night.

Kevin Lisch had 13 points to lead the ninth-seeded Billikens (18-14, 8-9), and Willie Reed added 10.

Xavier used a 14-0 run spanning 4:28 of both halves to take control of the game.

Raymond banked in a 30-footer at the first-half buzzer to cap a 7-0 spurt that gave the Musketeers a 35-25 lead.

Xavier then opened the second half by scoring the first seven points to take a 42-25 lead with 17:30 left.

St. Louis never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.

March 12, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Through Games Played on Monday, March 9th

Updated Daily Here on Out

1 Seeds

UNC, Pittsburgh, UConn, Memphis

2 Seeds

Duke, Louisville, Michigan St., Oklahoma

3 Seeds

Kansas, Washington, Wake Forest, Missouri

4 Seeds

Gonzaga, Villanova, Clemson, UCLA

5 Seeds

Xavier, Syracuse, BYU, Illinois

6 Seeds

Arizona St., Florida St., Marquette, LSU

7 Seeds

West Virginia, Purdue, Utah, Butler

8 Seeds

California, Texas, Oklahoma St., Tennessee

9 Seeds

Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Utah St., Siena

10 Seeds

Ohio St., Arizona, Dayton, Minnesota

11 Seeds

Florida, Michigan, St. Mary’s, VCU

12 Seeds

Temple, Creighton, Cleveland St., Northern Iowa

13 Seeds

Penn St., Western Kentucky, North Dakota St., Miami Oh.

14 Seeds

Stephen F. Austin, American, Cornell, East Tennessee St.

15 Seeds

Portland St., Robert Morris, Binghamton, Cal St. Northridge

16 Seeds

Morgan St., Radford, Morehead St. Play-in Game: Chattanooga vs. Alabama St.

Last Four In:

St. Mary’s, Temple, Creighton, Penn St.

First Four Out:

Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami Fl., San Diego St.

Next Four Out:

South Carolina, Auburn, Illinois St., USC

Multiple Conference Bids

Big Ten – 8, Big East – 7, Big 12 – 6, ACC – 5, Pac 10 – 5, SEC – 3, A10 – 3, Horizon – 2, MVC – 2, MWC – 2, WCC – 2.

Quick Notes

This will be updated daily up until Selection Sunday.

Let’s discuss some of the teams squarely on the bubble:

Creighton – Creighton got crushed in the semis of the Missouri Valley tournament but I still think they have a good shot for an at-large bid.  They have a top 40 RPI and it’s not often you see a 26 win team get left out.  The Blue Jays shared the regular season MVC crown with an impressive 14-4 record.  They also own a decisive win over Dayton and fellow bubble team New Mexico.

Temple – The Owls reappear in my bracket after URI suffered a stunning loss at home to UMass.  You can only give out so many bids to the BCS teams, and Temple tied for 2nd place in the A10 regular season.  They have a win over Tennessee, and a big road win over Penn St. who is also one of my last teams in.  Temple’s RPI is in the top 40 so an at-large is definitely possible.

Miami Fl. – I’ve had the Hurricanes in for much of the season but at this point I have to leave them out.  Their best non conference win is over Kentucky, who won’t make the tournament.  They are lacking quality wins, and a sweep over Boston College and a measly 7-9 ACC record just isn’t going to cut it.  Miami needs to win a couple games in the conference tourney to have a shot.

March 11, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Kevin Anderson scored 22 points to lead sixth-seeded Richmond to an 65-49 win over No. 11 St. Bonaventure in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Wednesday.

David Gonzalvez added 18 points and Ryan Butler had 10 for Richmond (18-14), which will play third-seeded Dayton at 9 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal game. Anderson added six assists for the Spiders, who were eliminated in the first round each of the last three years.

Andrew Nicholson and Jonathan Hall paced St. Bonaventure (15-15) with 13 points apiece.

Richmond led 28-22 at the half, then scored the first seven points of the second half, capped by Gonzalvez’s fastbreak layup on a behind-the-back assist from Anderson.

St. Bonaventure closed the gap to six when Michael Davenport hit consecutive 3-pointers with 9:39 left. But Butler converted five free throws during a 7-0 Richmond run that pushed the lead back to 13 with 6:31 left.

AP Photo

March 11, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Melquan Bolding had 23 points to lead five Duquesne players in double figures in the Dukes’ 91-81 victory over Massachusetts in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament Wednesday night.

Aaron Jackson added 18 points and seven assists for the Dukes (19-11), who advanced past the first round for just the second time in their last 13 trips to the A-10 tournament. Bolding contributed a career-high 13 rebounds.

No. 7 seed Duquesne will play second-seeded Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal game.

Chris Lowe had 23 points and Anthony Gurley scored 22 for UMass (12-18), which has lost eight straight A-10 tournament games. Ricky Harris added 17 and Tony Gaffney had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Minutemen.

Duquesne, which led by as many as 19 points in the first half, broke open a tight game in the second half with an 11-2 run that was capped by Eric Evans’ four-point play that gave the Dukes a 73-66 lead with 5:22 left.

AP Photo

March 11, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Tasheed Carr scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead Saint Joseph’s to a 72-62 win over Charlotte on Wednesday in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Ahmad Nivins added 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks (17-14, 10-7), who now face Temple on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s final. Garrett Williamson finished with 12 points for St. Joe’s, while Idris Hilliard had 10.

Lamont Mack had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the 49ers (11-20, 5-12), while Ian Andersen added 12 points and DiJuan Harris finished with 11 points and nine assists.

St. Joe’s trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and were down 30-23 at the break. But they opened the second half with an 11-2 run and were in command for the rest of the game.