March 19, 2010 | AP Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Confident, relaxed and definitely on their game.

Cornell lived up to its billing as the best team to come out of the Ivy League in more than a decade, and now the senior-heavy Big Red have a chance for a nice run in the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.

“Everyone was saying we were Cinderella or it’s an upset. Not us,” sophomore Chris Wroblewski said Friday after the 12th-seeded Big Red dominated No. 5 seed Temple 78-65 in a game that wasn’t even that close.

Down to their last chance to experience success on college basketball’s biggest stage, seniors Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote paced the school to its first win in five NCAA appearances.

Dale scored 21 points and Wittman, the Ivy League player of the year, had 20 for the Big Red, who led the nation in 3-point shooting this season and have three other elements — strong guard play, experienced leadership and a 7-foot center in Foote — that make them a threat to play beyond the first weekend of the tournament.

Cornell (28-4) made eight of its first 10 shots and never looked back, shooting 68 percent in the opening half and 56 percent for the game.

Temple (29-6) lost in the first round for the third straight year under coach Fran Dunphy, whose former assistant, Steve Donahue, has led Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles and the winningest season in school history.

Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks each had 14 points for Temple. Lavoy Allen added 11.

Having gone through a non-conference schedule that included games against Kansas, Syracuse, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Alabama, Donahue felt the Big Red was better equipped this year to face a tough, physical opening-round opponent such as Temple, one of the nation’s stingiest defensive teams.

Cornell lost by 24 to Stanford in 2008 and 19 to Missouri a year ago, and entered this year’s tournament determined to make the most of the last opportunity Wittman, Foote, Dale and fellow senior Jon Jaques have to enjoy the NCAA’s.

Dunphy, who’s been at Temple since 2006, fell to 1-12 in the NCAA tournament and has lost 11 straight.

The Owls coach appeared in the tournament nine times in 17 seasons at Penn, where Donahue was an assistant under him for 10 years. They remain close, and the mentor freely admitted he did not relish the idea of facing the pupil on Friday.

“I’m torn right now with the feeling in my stomach,” Donahue said after his first win over his former boss.

Temple trailed 37-29 at the half and was fortunate to be that close. The Owls uncharacteristically turned the ball over nine times, with Cornell coming up with seven steals while playing tight man-to-man defense and occasionally switching to a 1-3-1 zone that made it difficult to get the ball inside.

Cornell’s lead would have bigger if its 3-point shooters hadn’t struggled from beyond the arc. The Big Red were 13 of 19 from the field at the break, and five of those six misses were 3-pointers that could have left Temple in a deeper hole.

After misfiring on its first two 3-point attempts of the second half, Cornell’s shooters caught fire. Jon Jacques hit a long 3, then Wittman made three straight during a stretch in which the Big Red weathered another Temple surge to lead 51-42.

The closest Temple would get the rest of the way was seven.

“Wittman just went crazy with those 3s. We’re trying to get back in the game and he’s not allowing it,” Dunphy said.

Dunphy’s lone victory in the NCAA’s came in 1994, when Penn beat Nebraska. He lost his next eight tournament games with the Quakers and now his first three with Temple, including losses to Michigan State and Arizona State the past two years.

Cornell, which has won 16 of 17 games since a 5-point road loss at Kansas on Jan. 6, became the first Ivy League team to win an NCAA tournament game since fifth-seeded Princeton took down No. 12 seed UNLV in 1998.

“This is our last chance to do this,” said Foote, who had 16 points and seven rebounds. “It’s nice to see all our hard work for four years pay off.”

AP Photo

March 7, 2010 | Atlantic10.com

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Junior guard Kevin Anderson of Richmond has been named the 2009-10 Atlantic 10 men’s basketball Player of the Year in voting conducted among the Conference’s 14 head coaches.

The A-10 coaches also selected Fordham’s Chris Gaston as the Rookie of the Year, Chris Johnson of Dayton as the recipient of the Chris Daniels Award as the league’s most improved player, Temple’s Ramone Moore as Sixth Man of the Year, Damian Saunders of Duquesne as Defensive Player of the Year and Temple’s Fran Dunphy as Coach of the Year. In addition, Yves Mekongo of La Salle was tabbed Student-Athlete of the Year in voting among the league’s sports information directors.

Anderson ranks fifth in the Conference in scoring (17.8 ppg.) while leading the third-seeded Spiders to program highs in both regular season (24) and A-10 (13) victories. A second-team selection a year ago, the native of Duluth, Ga., has scored 20 or more points 12 times this season and also leads UR in assists (83) and steals (56). Anderson is the program’s first student-athlete to be tabbed A-10 Player of the Year since UR entered the league in 2001-02.

A two-time Player of the Week selection this season, Anderson is joined on the All-Conference first-team by Lavoy Allen of Temple, Xavier’s Jordan Crawford, Damian Saunders of Duquesne and Dayton’s Chris Wright. Crawford leads the A-10 in scoring at 19.7 ppg., while Wright garnered second-team distinction last season. For the first time in the league’s 34-year history, the first-team All-Conference consists of only sophomores and juniors.

The All-Conference second-team includes Temple’s Ryan Brooks, David Gonzalvez of Richmond, La Salle’s Rodney Green, Kwamain Mitchell of Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure’s Andrew Nicholson. Teammates Keith Cothran and Delroy James of Rhode Island, Massachusetts’ Ricky Harris, Jason Love of Xavier and Charlotte’s Shamari Spears were named to the third team. Temple’s Juan Fernandez, Damian Hollis of George Washington and Willie Reed of Saint Louis earned honorable mention acclaim

A four-time A-10 Rookie of the Week selection, Gaston leads all freshmen nationally in both scoring (18.0 ppg.) and rebounding (11.4), while his 504 points are the most by a freshman in team annals. The 6-7 forward leads the A-10 with three 30-point performances, pulled down at least 10 rebounds on 20 different occasions, and registered 19 double-doubles. Gaston is the third Fordham student-athlete to earn A-10 Rookie of the Year distinction, joining Bevon Robin (1998) and Bryant Dunston (2005).

Gaston is joined on the All-Rookie team by Chris Braswell of Charlotte, Cody Ellis of Saint Louis, George Washington’s Lasan Kromah, Aaric Murray of La Salle and Rhode Island’s Akeem Richmond.

The first-ever Duquesne player to garner A-10 Defensive Player of the Year distinction, Saunders enters this week’s A-10 Championship atop the league in both blocked shots (93) and steals (84) while averaging 14.9 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. The Waterbury, Conn., resident boasts 19 double-doubles and 19 performances with double-digit rebounds. Moreover, his 84 steals are tops in program history. The All-Defensive team is comprised of Saunders, Allen, Gonzalvez, Dayton’s London Warren and Garrett Williamson of Saint Joseph’s. Allen, Warren and Williamson are repeat selections.

Johnson was tabbed the recipient of the Atlantic 10’s Chris Daniels Award, presented to the Conference’s most improved player. A year ago, the 6-6 forward averaged 6.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and knocked down 24 field goals from beyond the arc. This season, the Columbus, Ohio, native enters the A-10 Championship ranked second on the Flyers in both scoring (11.8 ppg.) and rebounding (7.0 rpg.) while boasting 55 three-point field goals. He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds six times this season and has three 20-point performances to his credit.

Moore has provided a spark off the Temple bench in his sophomore campaign, averaging 7.6 points and dishing out 47 assists in just 17.6 minutes per game. In A-10 play, the 6-4 guard from Philadelphia, Pa., averaged 9.8 points on 51.3 percent shooting (61-for-119).

A three-time Academic All-Conference selection, Mekongo recently earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first-team distinction. The senior forward from Elizabeth, N.J., boasts a 3.81 grade point average while majoring in Integrated Science, Business & Technology. A second-team Academic All-American a year ago, Mekongo averaged 11.0 points and finished his career with 1,014 points. Joining Mekongo on the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference Team are Brian Conklin of Saint Louis, Duquesne’s Jason Duty, Kurt Huelsman of Dayton and Rhode Island’s Will Martell.

Now in his fourth season at Temple, Dunphy guided the Owls to their first A-10 regular season title since 2002 and the top seed in this week’s Atlantic 10 Championship. Ranked 16th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and 20th in the Associated Press top 25, TU compiled a mark of 14-2 in Conference play, while its 26 regular-season victories equaled the Owls’ second-highest total in team history. In addition, Temple leads the league in both scoring defense (56.8 ppg.) and field goal percentage defense (38.1). The Owls have captured the last two A-10 Championships and are 81-48 (.628) under Dunphy.

AP Photo

March 31, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Seniors Dionte Christmas of Temple and Saint Joseph’s Ahmad Nivins have earned Honorable Mention All-America honors by the Associated Press.

Named the 2008-09 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Nivins shot 61.2 percent (205-of-335) from the field and joined former George Washington standout Alexander Koul (1995-97) as the only players in A-10 history to lead the league in field goal percentage three consecutive years. The 6-9 forward from Jersey City, N.J., also led the A-10 in both rebounding (11.8 rpg.) and minutes (39.34 mpg.) while finishing third in the league in scoring (19.2 ppg.).

Tabbed the A-10 Player of the Week five times this season, Nivins scored 20 or more points 14 times in 2008-09 and led the conference with 22 double doubles. He finished his SJU career as the third leading scorer in school history and the sixth leading rebounder with 1,789 points and 955 rebounds, respectively.

Christmas is the first Temple standout to earn All-America status since Mardy Collins also garnered Honorable Mention All- America as a senior in 2005-06.

A finalist for the Naismith Trophy and the Lowe’s Senior Class Award, Christmas led the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring with a 19.5 average to become the only player in league history to accomplish the feat three times. The two-time first-team All-Atlantic 10 selection ended his brilliant career with 2,043 points to rank fourth on the Owls’ all-time scoring list. The 6-5 guard also set a new school record for three-pointers in a season (107), eclipsing his own mark (104, 2007-08), and career (319), breaking Lynn Greer’s record of 305 career three-pointers made (1997-02).

The Philadelphia native also became the first Owl player to record three consecutive 600-point seasons, finishing the season with 662 points. That total stands as 13th on Temple’s all-time single season points list. Christmas won three A-10 Player of the Week awards is his senior season, pushing his career total to 10, third most in league history. Only Xavier’s David West (14.’00-03) and Saint Joseph’s Jameer Nelson (13, ‘01-04), both National Players of the Year as seniors, have earned more A-10 Player of the Week honors.

AP Photo

March 20, 2009 | AP Press

MIAMI — On the eve of Arizona State’s first NCAA tournament game since 2003, James Harden had teammates laughing when he teased point guard Derek Glasser about being reluctant to shoot.

So when Harden had trouble getting going Friday against Temple, guess who came to the rescue?

Glasser scored a career-high 22 points, and the Sun Devils overcame a second consecutive subpar performance by Harden to win 66-57.

“It was one of those games where my shot wasn’t falling,” said Harden, the Pac-10 player of the year. “My teammates picked it up, definitely — Derek throughout the entire game.”

Harden scored nine points, less than half his average. And while he made only one shot, it was a big one: a 3-pointer with 4:02 left that helped to squelch a Temple comeback.

Glasser also connected from behind the arc. The junior went 4-for-5 on 3s as Arizona State (25-9) reached the 25-win milestone for the first time since 1975.

Seeded sixth in the South Region, the Sun Devils will play Sunday against Syracuse (27-9), which beat Stephen F. Austin 59-44.

No. 11-seed Temple (22-12) was eliminated in the opening round for the second year in a row and hasn’t won a tournament game since 2001. Senior Dionte Christmas scored 29 in his final game for the Owls.

“If you would have told us that James Harden would have ended up with nine points and I would have had 29 points and we lost the game, I would have thought you were crazy,” Christmas said.

Harden went 1-for-8. The performance was reminiscent of last week’s Pac-10 tournament championship game, when he missed a free throw, layup and 3-pointer in the final minute and scored 10 points in a loss to Southern Cal.

Against Temple he went more than 14 minutes in the first half without an attempt. He encountered heavy traffic every time he penetrated and had three shots blocked, but he did finish with seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. He went 6-for-9 from the line.

“The best part about James is he’s all about the team,” coach Herb Sendek said. “Just because it wasn’t his day, because he wasn’t the centerpiece, he didn’t disengage from his team. He recognizes the contributions other guys make.”

Temple never led and trailed by eight midway through the second half before making a charge. Christmas scored three consecutive baskets to cut the margin to 52-49, its smallest deficit since early in the game, but the Owls could get no closer.

After Harden missed his first six shots, his 3-pointer put Arizona State ahead 56-49. He sank a pair of free throws on the Sun Devils’ next possession, and they led by at least four the rest of the way.

“The last couple of minutes I started to be a little more aggressive and just create,” Harden said. “Throughout the game I didn’t play my best, but the last couple minutes I wanted to give my all and go out with a fight.”

Temple went 0-for-5 in the last 3:45. The Sun Devils held Christmas without a basket in the final 5:02.

“Those guys paid a little bit more attention to me than they were in the beginning of the game,” Christmas said. “Those guys were switching off more aggressively on me.”

The Sun Devils clinched the win by making six consecutive free throws in the final 40 seconds, including four by Glasser.

While Harden struggled offensively, his teammates combined to shoot 19-for-31 (61 percent). Jeff Pendergraph went 8-for-14 and scored 22 points. Glasser had 17 points in the first half alone.

“Our offense just created open looks for me,” Glasser said. “I was open, so I took them.”

“Derek has been playing his career-best basketball here the last couple weeks,” Sendek said. “He’s a significantly better shooter. He has really worked hard on that part of his game, and it has helped our team tremendously.”

Arizona State made six shots in a row, including three by Glasser, to build its biggest lead at 29-16 less than 12 minutes into the game.

The Sun Devils went the next eight possessions without a point, and Temple closed to 29-26. Glasser then sank consecutive 3-pointers, giving Arizona State a 35-26 lead.

Christmas played all 40 minutes and finished 5-for-11 from 3-point range, but the rest of the Owls shot only 11-for-35 (31 percent) from the field. Semaj Inge went 0-for-10.

“We had our looks,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “We did not take advantage of it, as we need to in a game of this magnitude.”

March 18, 2009 by Ryan Pohle | A10CollegeHoops

Bracket Predictions – Enjoy!

East

First Round

Pittsburgh over East Tennessee St. – A tough break for East Tennessee St. drawing Pitt as they deserved a 14-15 seed.

Oklahoma St. over Tennessee – A tough game to pick as the teams appear evenly matched, so I’m going with the team that finished the year 8-2 with the losses being @ Oklahoma and to Missouri.

Wisconsin over Florida St. – Many thought Wisconsin was more of a 9-10 seed so this isn’t a huge typical 12-5 upset.  FSU doesn’t have much after Douglas.

Xavier over Portland St. – Some people are talking about a potential upset here, but X just has too much experience and talent to exit this quick.

UCLA over VCU – VCU is another popular upset pick playing close to home and having the talented Maynor.  But UCLA just has too many weapons for them to shut down.

Villanova over American – American only played three quality teams this year, and they lost each one by 16+.  No chance of a stunner here.

Texas over Minnesota – Not the easiest game for Texas, but it’s a tough matchup for the Gophers as they aren’t a 3 point shooting team and Texas defends inside well.

Duke over Binghamton – Duke barely survived Belmont in the first round last year, so you never know.  Still, it would be a huge surprise to see them go down.

Second Round

Pittsburgh over Oklahoma St. – As talented as Oklahoma St. is, Pittsburgh will likely be able to score at will in this one as the Cowboys don’t have the size to matchup with Blair.

Xavier over Wisconsin – It’s going to be a tough game no matter who Xavier plays in the 2nd round, but they’re the better team and the Badgers are just too inconsistent.

UCLA over Villanova – Despite this being practically a home game for Villanova, the better team will come out the victor.  Villanova just doesn’t really stand out, and they did lose at home recently to Georgetown.

Duke over Texas – Texas has been too shaky offensively throughout the year to come up with the upset.  Duke is better and peaking at the right time.

Sweet 16

Pittsburgh over Xavier – This is actually a pretty solid matchup for Xavier as they can defend inside against Young and Blair.  It just seems unlikely that Pitt goes down this early.

UCLA over Duke – Collison, Aboya, and Shipp are not going to go out easy.  These seniors have been through it all and if they can beef up their defense a little bit, a run to the Elite 8 is certainly possible.

Elite 8

Pittsburgh over UCLA – It’s hard to imagine UCLA making a run past this.  Pittsburgh is just a little bit better in every regard.

Midwest

Louisville over Morehead St. – Louisville will take on Morehead St., who should have been preparing Tuesday night while Chattanooga played in their place.

Ohio St. over Siena – There’s been some love for Siena, but they haven’t been able to beat a tournament team in four tries.  Ohio St. just made the Big Ten final and is playing too well.

Utah over Arizona – This game could likely go either way, but with Arizona’s holes defensively and struggles at the end of the year, I’m leaning towards Utah.

Cleveland St. over Wake Forest – Wake is a young team going against a Cleveland St. squad that starts four seniors.  They are so tough defensively and could very well pull off the upset.

West Virginia over Dayton – A tough break for Dayton as many thought they should’ve been in the 9-10 seed range, and on top of things they draw a tough 6 seed in West Virginia that recently knocked off Pitt.

Kansas over North Dakota St. – The Bison start four seniors and Kansas is pretty young.  Ben Woodside dropped 63 in a game earlier this year, and he’s going to have to have another big game to get the W for ND State.

USC over Boston College – A good draw for USC getting a BC team that many had in the 10-11 seed range.  BC is young and weak defensively.

Michigan St. over Robert Morris – Robert Morris shoots 40% from deep as a team so if they get hot they could stay in this game for awhile.

Second Round

Louisville over Ohio St. – OSU’s nice run to finish the season ends here.  They just have too many holes on defense and won’t be able to muster up enough points against Louisville.

Utah over Cleveland St. – It doesn’t seem like too many have them going to the Sweet 16, but why not?  Utah shared the regular season MWC title and then won the conference tournament.  They have a win over Gonzaga, too.

Kansas over West Virginia – This will be one heck of a game if it happens.  But everyone has doubted Kansas all year and Self will prepare them well for this one.

Michigan St. over USC – An upset wouldn’t be out of the question considering MSU has had some surprising losses during the year.  But the better team should prevail.

Sweet 16

Louisville over Utah – The Cards are just a little too strong and the Utes are just a little too weak.  It could be a game for awhile but eventually Louisville will pull away.

Michigan St. over Kansas – These two met earlier in the year and the Spartans came out with a 13 point win.  Despite that game being in East Lansing, it’s hard to imagine that big of a swing.

Elite 8

Louisville over Michigan St. – As we’ve seen in Michigan St.’s losses, they just get too pedestrian like on offense.  And with how good Louisville is on defense, it’s hard to see them making the Final Four.

South

UNC over Radford – For what it’s worth, Radford starts all upperclassmen and will be used to UNC’s fast paced style.

Butler over LSU – Brad Stevens always gets his boys ready for big games, and always does a great job in close games.  LSU finished the year losing 3 of 4.

Illinois over Western Kentucky – Another fairly popular upset pick, but I’m not seeing it.  WK did beat Louisville, but they lost to a lot of bad teams.  Illinois is too tough defensively, even without Frazier.

Gonzaga over Akron – Akron’s defensive minded and slow tempo approach could keep them in it for awhile, but in the end Gonzaga should pull away.

Temple over Arizona St. – Dionte’s not going out without a fight.  The Owls have a lot of size and defend the paint well which is how the Sun Devils like to score.

Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin – Stephen Austin will surprise the Orange with how good they are on defense.  But these teams are on completely different levels in terms of talent.

Clemson over Michigan – I’ll ignore Purnell’s tournament struggles because Clemson is definitely the better team.  Michigan does not have much size and will struggle defending Booker and Sykes.

Oklahoma over Morgan St. – If a 15 were to knock of a 2 this year, Morgan St. would be the one.  That’s wishful thinking, though.

Second Round

UNC over Butler – Too much talent on UNC’s side and too much inexperience for Butler to pull off a shocker.  But their style of play may frustrate the Tar Heels at times.

Gonzaga over Illinois – Illinois is pretty young and lacking enough talent to hang with the red hot Zags.  This one probably won’t be all that close.

Syracuse over Temple – Syracuse has won 7 of 8 so it’s hard to see them not reaching at least the Sweet 16.  A10 teams always have seem to give them trouble, though.

Clemson over Oklahoma – Oklahoma has lost 4 of 6 headed into the tourney so they seem like a good team to fade.  Clemson has plenty of talent to pull off the upset.

Sweet 16

Gonzaga over UNC – A lot of people talked up St. Mary’s in the past week, and Gonzaga crushed them by 25 in the WCC finals.  Kansas exposed UNC’s defensive woes last year and the Zags will, too.

Syracuse over Clemson – Sticking with the red hot Orangemen.  Flynn, Devendorf, and Harris have been a very tough trio for their opponents.

Elite 8

Gonzaga over Syracuse – Gonzaga is well balanced and much more under the radar than they have been in the past.  Syracuse is a little too weak defensively for their run to continue any further.

West

UConn over Chattanooga – Very easy matchup for UConn as Chattanooga has 25+ point losses to Tennesse, Missouri, and USC.

BYU over Texas A&M – In a rematch of a 1st round match last year, BYU avenges it’s loss to A&M.  They are much improved and have a deadly good trio in Cummard, Fredette, and Tavernari.

Purdue over Northern Iowa – UNI has only played one tournament team all year, and that was a 30 point loss to Marquette.  They will be well overmatched.

Washington over Mississippi St. – Mississippi St. is hot and could give Washington a nice run for their money.  But Washington is hot and too good on defense.

Marquette over Utah St. – Marquette is tough to read since their only win since James has been out is over St. John’s.  Still, you have to think they find a way to win this one.

Missouri over Cornell – The Big Red can stroke it from deep.  But they struggle on defense and didn’t play well against any of their tougher opponents this year.

California over Maryland – Another fairly popular upset pick, but Maryland doesn’t have anything after Vasquez, and the Terps won’t be able to shut down Randle, Christopher, and Boykin.

Memphis over Cal St. Northridge – Memphis hasn’t given up 50 points in their last four games.  That won’t happen again as CS Northridge plays a very up tempo style, but they’ll have a lot of bad possessions.

Second Round

UConn over BYU – If a one seed were to exit this early, it would likely be by the hands of BYU.  How far UConn can go without Dyson is a question mark.

Purdue over Washington – Purdue is beaming with confidence after winning the Big 10 Tourney, and they will pose matchup problems for Pondexter and Brockman.

Missouri over Marquette – Marquette hasn’t proven that they can win a big game without James.  Missouri has flown under the radar going 28-6 overall including winning the Big 12 Tourney.

Memphis over California – If Cal can find a way to put up points Memphis will be in for a long game.  Memphis needs to shoot the 3 ball well at some point.

Sweet 16

UConn over Purdue – People forget that Purdue is still a young team, and they haven’t shot the trey ball as well this year.  Too much UConn for them to handle.

Memphis over Missouri – Memphis’ defense would appear to be too good for the Tigers, especially inside as they can shut down Lyons and Carroll.

Elite 8

Memphis over UConn – The Huskies look to be a little too weak on offense to make a run further than this, as they haven’t had anyone step up with Dyson out.  They will have a very hard time putting up points in this contest.

Final Four

Louisville over Memphis – As good as Memphis is, they just don’t have the perimeter shooting that they’ll need against Louisville to pull of a victory.  It’ll be a grind it out type of game but in the end Louisville will prevail.

Gonzaga over Pittsburgh – Pitt has quietly been weak defensively (especially on the perimter) and it’s been exposed recently against West Virginia and Marquette.  Gonzaga can stroke it from deep and stop you on the other end.

Championship Game

Gonzaga over Louisville – I’m definitely going out on a limb picking Gonzaga to win it all, but UNC and Pitt are too weak defensively for my liking, as are Louisville and UConn on the offensive end to dodge six landmines in this tournament.  Gonzaga is solid on both ends of the floor, and has the talent and experience to pull off an incredible run to win it all.

March 14, 2009

By John Lamb | A10CollegeHoops.com

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Dionte Christmas and the Temple Owls are going to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row after an exciting 69-64 victory over the Duquesne Dukes at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday night.

There was a lot of speculation before the game as to whether Temple could grab an at-large bid. Now that they won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament they don’t need to worry if their name gets called on Selection Sunday but when.

Christmas led the way with a game-high 29 points on 10-of-24 shooting including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc. His performances throughout the tournament were good enough to garner a spot on the All-Championship Team as well as the Most Outstanding Performer award.

“The only thing I had on my mind was winning the Championship and playing my butt off today to get this title,” said Christmas, who became just the second player in league history to be named the MOP twice. “I thought every shot I shot today was going in.”

“I didn’t even think about the previous game or how bad I was shooting in the previous game. I just knew how good I was going to play today and how good I can shoot today. That was the only thing on my mind.”

Christmas was joined on the All-Championship Team by Sergio Olmos and Ryan Brooks. Both played an integral part in getting the Owls to the Big Dance for the second straight year.

Olmos clearly presented a match up problem for the Dukes in the paint and the Owls exploited it early as the 7-0 center scored seven of his 14 points in the first seven minutes of the game. He pulled down nine rebounds – six of which were of the offensive variety – and blocked three shots in 35 minutes of play.

He had the unenviable task of defending Duquesne’s Damian Saunders, a speedy 6-7 forward, for most of the game. Although Saunders finished the game with 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds Olmos was satisfied with the way things turned out when all was said and done.

“I’m kind of slow so it was a tough match up,” said Olmos after the game. “[Saunders] tried to take advantage of his speed and I think I did a good job of taking advantage of my height.”

Brooks proved again that he is the Owls best shooter in clutch situations. The junior guard scored 14 points for the Owls but none were bigger than the three-pointer he hit with 4:12 remaining in the game to extend the Owls lead to eight and put the game out of reach.

Brooks plays hard on both ends of the court and Dunphy pointed out the fact that Duquesne’s Aaron Jackson scored seven straight points in the span of 41 seconds while he was on the bench to reiterate just how important the junior out of Lower Merion, PA is to Temple’s success.

“I would have loved to have the luxury of bringing [Brooks] off the bench for his whole career but we can’t be out on the court too much without him,” said Dunphy of his first official Temple recruit. “I don’t like to be out on the court too much without him, that’s the type of kid he is. He’s just tremendous.”

Temple’s Lavoy Allen was also a big factor for the Owls as he notched his 13th double-double of the season to the tune of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Allen’s ability to play around the perimeter allowed Sergio Olmos to do what he does best – park himself near the basket.

Even though Temple led most of the way, Ron Everhart’s Dukes, a team with two sophomores and eight freshmen on the roster, certainly proved that they will be a formidable opponent for years to come in the Atlantic 10.

“I’m not trying to say that we didn’t want to go to the NCAA tournament because we obviously did,” said Everhart. “However, I feel like the run that we made here and the way that we played, I think it will help our basketball team. It laid a tremendous and solid foundation for years to come.”

Perhaps the most important part of that foundation is Melquan Bolding. While the freshman only scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting his performances throughout the tournament were good enough to land him a spot on the All-Championship Team.

Bolding averaged 14 points per game in tournament play, almost five points above his season average. His three-point shooting against Dayton was instrumental in getting the Dukes through to the championship round.

For a while in the first half it looked as if the Dukes were a team of destiny. The teams traded baskets for most of the half with Duquesne actually taking the lead with 4:22 remaining thanks to a three-pointer by Saunders.

The Owls regained the lead for good late in the first half thanks to Christmas’ efforts. He scored eight of his team’s last 10 points of the half to allow Temple to take a 42-37 advantage into the break.

“We know what Christmas is capable of doing,” Jackson, who was also named to the All-Championship Team, said. “The way he reads screens and reads the defense was incredible. He was hard to defend.”

Both teams did not do a great job of defending in the first half as each squad shot exceptionally well. The Dukes shot 53.6 percent (15-of-28) while the Owls shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31).

While the Dukes will likely wait and see where they will be seeded in the National Invitational Tournament, Dunphy’s Owls can sit back and enjoy the moment.

“The next 24 hours are fabulous to be honest with you,” said Dunphy. “I’m so happy for the guys, going to the NCAA Tournament, and there’s no feeling quite like this.”

GAME NOTES:
Temple claimed their 8th Atlantic 10 Championship in the 15th appearance which is the most by any member school past or present on both counts…They are now 8-7 in championship games…Temple is the first team to repeat as A-10 champions since the Owls won it in 2000 and 2001…This will be the 27th NCAA tournament appearance in Temple history…The Owls are now 5-0 against Duquesne in the A-10 Championship…Duquesne is now 1-2 in A-10 title games…Duquesne’s 21wins are the most since the 1971 NCAA team and their 38 wins over the past two seasons are the most since 1980-1981.

POST GAME AUDIO:
Dionte Christmas, Ryan Brooks, Sergio Olmos and Fran Dunphy Post Game Comments

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com

Join us here at A10CollegeHoops.com for a live blog of tonight’s championship game between the #4 seeded Temple Owls and the #7 seeded Duquesne Dukes.

Click Here to join the live blog.

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 7, 2009 | AP Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lavoy Allen scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Temple to a 63-53 win over George Washington on Saturday night in the final regular-season game for both teams.

The Owls (19-11, 11-5 Atlantic 10 Conference) had a season-high 55 rebounds in defeating the Colonials for the first time in Washington since 2002.

George Washington (10-18, 4-12), which failed to secure a berth in the 12-team league tournament, trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and 32-24 at the half.

Temple increased its lead to 10 points on an Allen layup with 19:28 left, and the Colonials never got within single digits again.

George Washington shot 35.2 percent from the field (19 of 54) while Temple shot 24-for-74 (32.4 percent) and 9-for-32 from 3-point range.

Damian Hollis led the Colonials with 21 points. Rob Diggs had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

AP Photo

March 5, 2009 by John Lamb | A10CollegeHoops

PHILADELPHIA – Thursday night’s game has assuredly been circled on the calendar of many a Temple fan . Forget the fact that it was Senior Night for the Owls or that this game was essentially for  a  first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament.

This was Temple and Saint Joe’s. For a myriad of reasons this rivalry has become the most heated and competitive rivalry in the Big 5 and is right up there with the clashes that Xavier and Dayton have yearly in the Atlantic 10.

Last year, Pat Calathes hit the game-winning three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left to steal a 68-67 victory at the Liacouas Center. This year, the Owls were looking for revenge on their home court.

Fittingly, Temple’s seniors led the way as the Owls (18-11, 10-5 A-10) clipped the Hawks (15-14, 8-7) 68-59.

Dionte Christmas led all scorers with 23 points. He had gone over a month without breaking the 20 point plateau. Temple coach Fran Dunphy stated after the game that Christmas let it be known that “he was not going to let [Temple] lose.”

“Today I told myself that, no matter what happened, I wasn’t going to let my team lose,” said Christmas. “One, we definitely needed to win this game and another, this was Senior Night – my last game here – and I didn’t want to go out the wrong way.”

Christmas was helped out by the contributions of Sergio Olmos and Semaj Inge. Olmos scored 14 point and, most importantly, played tough defense on Saint Joseph’s star Ahmad Nivins. Although he scored 17 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, the Hawks big man shot only 6-for-16 from the floor and found himself having to work for every inch down low against the Owls seven-footer.

“Serg didn’t get a whole lot of help, he was pretty much on [Nivins] by himself,” Dunphy said. “As good as he was offensively, and he was very good, I thought he was terrific defensively.”

Olmos understood that he had to bring his A-game to be successful in slowing down one of the A-10’s premier players.

“He’s a great player and you really have to be physical,” said Olmos, who has rebounded nicely since returning to the starting lineup. “When he wants he can get very deep position and he’s got plenty of moves down there. But I think I did a pretty good job and my teammates also helped me. I think it was a great team effort.”

Semaj Inge also added to his reputation for being a pain in the neck for the Hawks. He filled the stat sheet with a line to the tune of nine points, three assists, two blocks and four steals.

The Hawks were able to cut Temple’s lead to two points with just under 15 minutes left in the second half after a fast break dunk by Nivins. Whatever Dunphy told his players during the ensuing timeout seemed to resonate as the Owls broke the game open with an 18-6 run that was sparked by the three-point shooting of Craig Williams and Christmas.

Williams finished the game with 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds. His playing time had been scarce before tonight’s contest but Dunphy made it clear that he is an integral part of this team.

“[Williams] is critical because he adds such a different dimension to our team,” said Dunphy. “We need him. He had some personal issues that he dealt with for the Dayton game and he did not play very well or long against La Salle. He is an interesting player, a talented guy. He’s not a great athlete, he’s not going to get side to side real fast at any point and he’s not going to go up and dunk a lot of balls but he has great hands. When he catches the ball and rebounds the ball, it’s his.”

Juan Fernandez also had an impressive game for the Temple. The freshman point guard scored five points and dished out five assists to go along with four rebounds. He made two dynamic passes that drew plenty of “Oohs” from the crowd on back-to-back possessions early in the first half that led to easy layups for Williams and Inge respectively.

“[Fernandez is] a terrific basketball player. He got caught a few times on the defensive end tonight but he is a really good basketball player that knows what he is doing out there,” Dunphy stated. “I am hoping the next three and chance years will be spectacular years for him as well.”

It would not be a Big 5 game without at least one wacky stat. Only four of the eight Hawks who played tonight scored. The bench and starter Garrett Williamson shot a combined 0-for-12 from the floor. Needless to say, the Owls easily won the bench points battle 16-0.

For the game, the Hawks shot just 32 percent.

“We just played a Division I game and had four guys score,” said Hawks coach Phil Martelli when asked why his team has trouble scoring. “Some of it is skill set and some of it is a full out commitment to that way of playing. We had a number of layups that did not go in. Guys are trying they just didn’t make layups.”

Tasheed Carr led the Hawks with 22 points and five assists. Darrin Govens added 14 points and Idris Hilliard scored six.

The first 15 minutes of the game were controlled by the Saint Joseph’s as they led by as many as seven points. They seemed to have an answer for everything the Owls tried to do in the early going. It did not last for long as a Christmas three with 4:39 remaining broke a 21-21 tie and gave the Owls a lead that they never relinquished.

Saint Joe’s looked to establish themselves in the paint early and partly succeeded as Lavoy Allen picked up two quick fouls and watched most of the half from the bench. The Hawks, however, were only able to score four points in the paint to Temple’s 14.

Temple heads to Washinton D.C. on Saturday to take on the George Washington Colonials. If Duquesne is able to beat Dayton on the Flyers’ home court then Temple will move up the the three seed.

Saint Joe’s will travel to New York City to take on Fordham in a game that will go a long way in determining how the middle of the A-10 pack pans out going into the conference tournament.

POST GAME AUDIO:
Phil Martelli Post Game Press Conference
Fran Dunphy Press Conference
Dionte Christmas, Sergio Olmos and Semaj Inge Post Game Audio

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com