 Temple is back, and going to the NCAA tournament for the second straight
year.Dionte Christmas (6'5''-G) scored 29 points and the four-seeded Owls (22-11) became the first team to win consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference tournaments in eight years with a 69-64 victory over Duquesne on Saturday night. The seventh-seeded Dukes (21-12) were looking for their first NCAA berth in 32 years, and just 2 1/2 years after five basketball players were shot on campus. They won three games in three days but couldn't handle Temple outside-inside punch of Christmas and Sergio Olmos (7'0''-C-86), who had 14 points and nine rebounds. Aaron Jackson (6'4''-G-86), the only remaining player on the team who was among those shot in the fall of 2006, led the Dukes with 20 points. The A10 title was the eighth for Temple, and the second in three years since Fran Dunphy replaced John Chaney as coach. Chaney's Owls were the last team to win consecutive titles in 2000 and 2001, but Temple struggled after that. They're back now, in large part, to Christmas delivering seven high-arcing 3-pointers in another major March present. When the Owls won the title last year over Saint Joseph's, Christmas led the way with 22. This game never had the intensity of that Philadelphia-based rivalry, but the Dukes had their chances late to get back in the game, but they couldn't make the big shots. Trailing 62-51 approaching the seven-minute mark, Jackson hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. He made the free throw to narrow the lead to seven points and Saunders closed the gap to 62-57 with a driving layup with 4:48 to go. After Ryan Brooks (6'4''-G) of Temple hit a 3-pointer and Saunders hit a layup, Duquesne had five chances to cut into the Owls 65-59 lead and they missed shots on five straight possessions. Christmas, who was named the tournament's outstanding player for the second straight year, ended the drought by both teams by finally hitting a free throw with 51 seconds to play. After that is was just a matter of running out the clock, and watching the Owls hug each other as their fans calmly rushed the court at Boardwalk Hall in this casino resort, maybe, another sign that winning is back at Temple. Brooks added 14 points and Lavoy Allen (6'9''-F) had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Owls, who shot almost 46 percent from the field, including 11 of 28 from 3-point range. Bill Clark added 13 points for Duquesne, which was outrebounded 41-30. The Dukes, who shot better than 50 percent in the first three games of the tournament, hit 10 of 30 in the second half to finish at 43 percent. Duquesne, which has not been to a postseason tournament since 1994, will have to wait on Sunday for what probably will be an NIT bid. No one put on more of a show in an entertaining first half than Christmas, who scored 20 points, hitting six 3-pointers in helping Temple take a 42-37 lead. Olmos added a free throw, and Allen and Brooks hit jumpers to push the lead to 47-37 early in the second half, and Duquesne never recovered. Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the first half that flowed with only 10 total fouls and seven turnovers. Clark led Duquesne with 10 and Saunders had 9. Olmos gave the Owls an inside presence with nine points on 4 of 5 shooting while Brooks scored nine points in helping them get off to a quick start.Courtesy of Atlantic 10 Tournament Final: Temple - Duquesne 69-64 Tournament Semifinals: Xavier - Temple 53-55 Dayton - Duquesne 66-77 Atlantic 10 All-Tournament MVP: Dionte Christmas of Temple Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team Melquan Bolding (6'4''-G/F-88) of Duquesne Ryan Brooks of Temple Dionte Christmas of Temple Aaron Jackson of Duquesne Sergio Olmos of Temple
Jimmy Baron (6'3''-G-86) of Rhode Island Dionte Christmas of Temple Aaron Jackson of Duquesne Ahmad Nivins (6'9''-F-87) of Saint Joseph's B.J. Raymond (6'6''-G/F-87) of Xavier All-Atlantic 10 2nd Team Kevin Anderson (6'0''-G-88) of Richmond Derrick Brown (6'8''-F-87) of Xavier Tony Gaffney (6'8''-F-84) of Massachusetts Rodney Green (6'5''-G) of La Salle Chris Wright (6'8''-F-88) of Dayton All-Atlantic 10 3rd Team Lavoy Allen of Temple Ricky Harris (6'2''-G-87) of Massachusetts Kevin Lisch (6'2''-G) of Saint Louis Lamont Mack (6'7''-F-87) of Charlotte Kahiem Seawright (6'8''-F-86) of Rhode Island All-Atlantic 10 Honorable Mention C.J. Anderson (6'6''-G/F-85) of Xavier David Gonzalvez (6'4''-G-87) of Richmond Marcus Johnson (6'3''-G-87) of Dayton Chris Lowe (6'0''-G-87) of Massachusetts Damian Saunders (6'7''-F-88) of Duquesne Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team Melquan Bolding of Duquesne Jio Fontan (5'11''-G) of Fordham Chris Johnson (6'5''-G/F) of Dayton Kwamain Mitchell (5'10''-G) of Saint Louis Andrew Nicholson (6'9''-F-89) of St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team Lavoy Allen of Temple Tony Gaffney of Massachusetts Ahmad Nivins of Saint Joseph's London Warren (6'0''-G-87) of Dayton Garrett Williamson (6'5''-G-88) of Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team Jimmy Baron of Rhode Island Luke Bonner (7'1''-C-85) of Massachusetts Jason Duty (6'1''-G) of Duquesne Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis Yves Mekongo-Mbala (6'7''-F) of La Salle Atlantic 10 Player of the Year: Ahmad Nivins of Saint Joseph's Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year: Tony Gaffney of Massachusetts Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year: Andrew Nicholson of St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player of the Year: Aaron Jackson of Duquesne Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year: Delroy James (6'8''-F-87) of Rhode Island Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year: Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year: Jim Baron of Rhode Island |
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