ATLANTIC CITY — It’s over, the Owls are dancing! The Temple fans streak onto the court and the players go berserk. Christmas rips his shirt off and runs to the sideline, and the bench streaks toward center court. I couldn’t see who, but someone has grabbed Clark and is carrying him off the court. Olmos is flipping out as well. Christmas now is hugging a relative while holding back tears and shouting the whole time.

It was a great game, even though the very end wasn’t down to the wire. Carr turned it on in the second half, and Nivins had a great game, but the collective effort of the Owls was too much, all the way in the second half.

FINAL: Temple 69, St. Joe’s 64

Box score 

Owls fans are getting ready to rush the court… They start the chant “The Hawk is dead” and Hawks fans claim again it “will never die.”

0:06.1 2nd Half: Temple 68, St. Joe’s 61

The Temple fans are sensing it happening. Carr cuts it to four with a drive, but Brooks hits two on the line.

Tyndale finally hits from the line and it is just about done.

0:20.3 2nd Half: Temple 64, St. Joe’s 59

Calathes spins toward the hoop, and can’t seem to go anywhere. He gets the ball back and misses a three.

Tyndale misses free throws, and Carr misses another three for the Hawks.

0:48.8 2nd Half: Temple 63, St. Joe’s 59

Calathes drains a jumper over Tyndale, just after Tyndale missed two free throws.

Wow, Christmas strips Calathes going to the hoop, and Clark goes to the line for two.

2:27 2nd Half: Temple 63, St. Joe’s 57

Nivins makes both free throws off of the offensive board, but Tyndale drives the lane and finds Brooks on the outside for a triple.

Finally. Calathes hits a three as Tyndale floated to far in help defense, and Carr capitalizes off of a Tyndale miss hard in the lane.

Clark drives, though, and finds Brooks for an easy two. Carr manhandles Brooks once again, though.

But Tyndale takes it into his own hands, again, stepping through for the and-1 to takes a six-point lead. Tyndale then goes back to beating Calathes, this time dishing to Christmas inside.

8:12 2nd Half: Temple 53, St. Joe’s 46

The Hawks fans chant “airball” as Brooks misses from three, and the Owls fans come back with “scoreboard!” I really don’t think “scoreboard” is a valid chant when you’re up six.
Brooks follows that up with an an-1 from 13 feet out, pumping his fist after. There have been a lot of fouls called, maybe a few too many.

9:41 2nd Half: Temple 49, St. Joe’s 44

Calathes is sitcking to Clark, even on screens. Martelli really wants to keep the little man off his game, but it’s not working - Allen hits again.

Christmas is money on a three on the pass from Clark, and the Hawks are in big trouble. Calathes hits a three of his own, though, and it’s back to a 6-pt game.

Then, Allen’s pass to Clark in the corner gets blocked, and the Hawks get the ball back to Nivins inside, and he makes two from the line.

The crowd for both teams is getting louder as the lead is four….

11:52 2nd Half: Temple 43, St. Joe’s 37

Olmos and Nivins can’t convert, and Christmas misses over two guys.

Allen scores inside, but Carr gets three of those points back with an and-1 layup. Calathes is guarding Clark, though it might just be for a possession. Nope, he’s really guarding him.

As a result, Temple works the high-low, and Olmos scores and and-1. Tyndale clenches his fists. This has truly been a fantastic run for Temple, and an equally-amazing collapse for the Hawks. They have scored five points in eight minutes, and were on a five-minutes scoring drought.

It’s a great atmosphere here, both fan groups have been loud, though it’s been Temple producing the noise as of late.

14:53 2nd Half: Temple 39, St. Joe’s 34

Allen dunks around Ferguson in a play that was a lot easier than it should have been. And after a nice skip pass from Tyndale, Christmas hits a well-contested three over Carr.

Nivins scores a nasty tip-in, but Christmas penetrates the lane effortlessly for a layup.

Clark has missed two threes from the corner, but both have been rebounded offensively. Olmos now gets fouled on that possession, and the Owls all of a sudden have a chance to take the lead.

And Clark does just that. And more.

He has the gravitas to attempt yet another corner three, and Clark drains it to take Temple’s first lead of the game. Then Clark plucks Calathes’ pocket and hangs in the air to avoid Carr’s defense to take a five-point lead.

Stats: With Calathes playing only 13 minutes and taking four shots, Govens and Nivins are taking control of the game, scoring nine and 12 points, respectively. Like Govens, Christmas is 4-for-8, but the guard has netted 12 points. Allen has played well inside again for Temple, getting those two blocks as well as four rebounds.

St. Joe’s has made almost twice as many shots as the Owls (13-of-30 to Temple’s 7-of-25). The teams are equal in rebounding, but Temple has committed eight turnovers compared to only four assists.

Halftime: Temple 25, St. Joe’s 32

Man, Clark just hit a huge three. He’s so fast he was essentially guarded by no one after a jab step, and hits the trey.

Martelli deftly calls a timeout with 5.4 seconds remaining in the half. Unlike the second half, the clock keeps running, and it takes three ticks to inbound the ball, so the Hawks save a possession, but Ferguson misses a three.

0:30.4 1st Half: Temple 22, St. Joe’s 32

Olmos finally slows Nivins down, forcing im to shoot a bad hook, but the next possession Nivins once again scores at will.

Brooks gets the ball over Nivins on the perimeter, but doesn’t realize the shot clock is running down until it’s too late.

Calathes is called for travel, or carry or something. I didn’t see anything. Brooks airballs another shot, and Olmos barely gets a layup off before getting fouled.

Clark was just guarding Calathes, funniest thing ever, 14-inch difference. Well, not funny for the Owls. Calathes gets doubled because of it, and Ferguson is wide open for a three which he of course hits. He just might get one of my five votes for all-tourney team.

3:36 1st Half: Temple 21, St. Joe’s 27

Nivins hits an elbow jumper, and Govens scores yet again on a drive. The Hawks always seem to have someone in double

Christmas makes it look easy, hitting another three over Williamson.

Thanks to a screen, Calathes gets by Tyndale and slaps the backboard for a layup, but Christmas is doing his best Darnell Harris impression, nailing a 25 footer. Williamson’s long arms can do nothing about that.

7:46 1st Half: Temple 15, St. Joe’s 21

My, how the tides have changed.

Christmas simply takes the ball from Arvydas Lidzius at midcourt, and scores. The Owls’ 3/4 press doesn’t work, but Lidzius misses from point-blank range.

Then Dionte pulls up from NBA range and sinks it in Williamson’s eye, and as the lanky guard falls on him, it’s a four-point play.

Calathes is back in the game, surprisingly, and misses a three. Govens helps out with another jumper.

Coming off playing the entire game yesterday, Allen throws Idris Hilliard’s shot away, and then has another spectacular block on Nivins, but he’s whistled for a foul on the rebound, and the Owls fans go ballistic.

11:49 1st Half: Temple 5, St. Joe’s 15

Calathes picks up his second foul already, and is out of the game in favor of Garrett Williamson. That’s about the only thing that’s gone wrong for the Hawks.

Christmas misses two threes on one possession, Tyndale misses, gets his own rebound and then misses again. Even Chris Clark bricks a three. On the other end, Govens and company are draining everything.

15:46 1st Half: Temple 5, St. Joe’s 8

The crowd is now almost full, the most packed I’ve ever seen this building, and definitely the loudest. The chants were tame before the game, but the Temple fans booed Phil Martelli when he walked out. That’s just unnecessary.

Govens connects from the elbow, and as Martelli yells something to ref Joe DeMayo, and immediately Guzman is whistled for a carry. Olmos can’t convert and neither can Allen on a jumper, but Calathes misses a three and Ferguson picks up a bad foul on a rebound.

Allen somehow forgets about Nivins, and he scores on a layup inside. Tyndale gets the ball, maybe for the first time of the game, and gets fouled by Calathes on a three. He hits all of the freebies.

Nivins just beasts Olmos inside, nastily dunking on him from the reverse angle. The teams trade layup, and then Carr drives into the lane and somehow finds Nivins on the other side of the paint, and he’s fouled.

______

We’ve eliminated 10 teams, but the Big 5 rules the Atlantic 10 championship game. After demolishing Fordham and Richmond, the Hawks knocked off top-seeded Xavier to enter the title game, facing Temple for the third time this year. With an RPI of 42, the Hawks may get into the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens tonight. Temple has won six straight games and is undefeated in March. The Owls knocked off La Salle in the first round, and fairly easily took out Charlotte last night to reach the final.

The last time these two teams met it was a fantastic game, and even that didn’t quite live up to what happened in the first meeting. With 3.9 seconds left, Calathes sank a three to put the Hawks up by one, but Mark Tyndale came storming down the court and got off a layup at the buzzer, but at the top of its arc, Nivins swatted it away, and the Hawks won. The second time around, the Hawks led by double-figures most of the game until Tyndale scored the game’s final basket with 20 seconds left and the Owls won the rematch.

___

There is a half-hour until tipoff, and this game already has the feel of a Big 5 game. There aren’t a huge number of fans present, but the student sections have already begun chanting at each other.

Starters:

St. Joe’s:
G Darrin Govens
G Tasheed Carr
F Pat Calathes
F Rob Ferguson
C Ahmad Nivins

Temple:
G Luis Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
G Mark Tyndale
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos

ATLANTIC CITY — The Big 5 is in the Tournament. Temple faces St. Joe’s in the A-10 final. The first two meetings were so amazing, the final of the Atlantic 10 Tournament has big shoes to fill. ESPN will also know it’s going to get a big crowd tomorrow.

FINAL: Temple 60, Charlotte 45

What a performance from the Big 5 today, the 30-year streak is left intact.

Tyndale is called for a travel while fighting for possession, and he is less than pleased.

Gerrity airballs a three. The crowd chants “We want St. Joe’s!” They know this one is done.

1:37 2nd Half: Temple 58, Charlotte 44

Tyndale double-dribbles, and Charlotte gets it back with 1:50 to go. Goldwire clanks another three, once again, and Charlotte’s time is running out. The Big 5 is 1:37 away from getting a team in the Tourney for sure.

2:09 2nd Half: Temple 55, Charlotte 44

Allen fights for another box out, and goes to the line when someone goes over his back.

I just keep waiting for Goldwire to take over, but it just hasn’t happened. Immediately following me typing that, he makes a lefty layup. But hey, the Hawks have to be happy it’s that, not a three. He hits four of those per game, and a good amount come in the final minutes, as UMass found out last night.

2:44 2nd Half: Temple 51, Charlotte 39

I get shorted out from the connection again, but basically Charlotte scored a few quick hoops to get within five, but the Owls started draining as well, inluding a Tyndale three from the top of the key.

7:59 2nd Half: Temple 44, Charlotte 36

Allen signals the end of Mack’s easy inside scoring with a big-time block off the glass.

Brooks drives, and somehow finds the space to fit in a layup from the baseline angle. Mack misses a three, hits two from the line and now comes out in favor of Goldwire.

Allen skies through the lane, but the rebound is off of him. Coley, now, does the coasting through the air, on his way to an and-1. Charlotte gets the ball back on the free throw, but Mack misses a three, and Tyndale gets into the lane for a deuce.

Clark throws up an airball and Goldwire answers with a huge three. All of a sudden, it’s a five-point game.

11:40 2nd Half: Temple 40, Charlotte 32

Tyndale goes flying over Charles Dewhurst’s back, and a foul is commited. I don’t know how that is called, I thought the ball was out of bounds first on the top of the backboard.

Michael Gerrity blows an open layup, but Goldwire drains a three. Finally. Tyndale hustles to force another possession on a board, and Brooks scores inside.

Tyndale gets fouled, and then is warned by the referee quietly about shooting after the whistle. In soccer, that’d be a yellow card.

Mack scores inside again, Tyndale commits a hard charge and this game is getting close.

15:23 2nd Half: Temple 38, Charlotte 25

Christmas follows a Mack layin with a beautiful one himself, putting just enough english on it. Just as I write this, Tyndale goes to the hoop for a strong and-1.

Once again, Olmos is in foul trouble with his third. He has some work to go to pull off a third-straight game in double-figures.

But the focus is back onto Temple’s self-proclaimed one-two punch. Christmas splashes in a three and the Owls are up 15.

Charlotte hits two free throws, and Mack draws an offensive foul. Wilderness now hits a big basket to get a withing striking distance of striking distance.

In transition, the Owls strike easily, as Christmas gets it to Tyndale, who sends the ball Brooks’ way for a layin.

For some reason Olmos is standing up on the bench. I feel bad for the seven-feet-worth of fans sitting behind him.
Halftime stats: The Owls lead by nine, and a major reason why is that the 49ers have gone 3-for-16 from three. Goldwire has two makes to eight misses. The defense has been great, and we’ll see if they can keep it up.

Halftime: Temple 28, Charlotte 19

Clark gets all three from the stripe to fall, and Temple gets a little lead going again. Tyndale builds on it with an and-1 to go up 10, but only after a great block by Allen on Goldwire.

Christmas strips Coley, and the Owls get their star sophomore to the line with a backdoor cut.

The half ends with Mack expertly stripping Tyndale, and he is livid about that.

3:59 1st Half: Temple 22, Charlotte 14

Tyndale turns it over badly, but Charlotte misses yet another three. They live and die by that shot - the 49ers were down 34-19, I believe to UMass and came back to win.

Clark isn’t scared to launch again after missing twice, and drains a triple.

Semaj Inge loses the ball, but Tyndale gets it back and finds Clark, who gets fouled on a three.

14:45 1st Half: Temple 19, Charlotte 14

Ian Anderson finally gets the Owls into double-figures, and Wilderness scores to cut the early lead to seven. He then scores again, and this is really a game once again.

Clark misses two threes by a bit, and Charlotte gets a chance to make it a one-possession game from the line.

9:15 1st Half: Temple 19, Charlotte 9

Chris Clark is in the game now for Temple after his big shooting night in the first half. He was peculiarly laying down on hisstomach before coming in. Maybe it was in order to stretch his back, but I don’t think that was it. They didn’t have enough chairs on the bench.

Christmas gets a hand out on a Goldwire three, and Clark buries it for Temple. It has been a long, long time since the 49ers scored. They have two threes, but that’s about it, and they have attempted a whole lot more than two.

14:45 1st Half: Temple 16, Charlotte 8

Christmas misses some free throws, but Allen corrals the rebound. Tyndale has a great box out to get the rebound over a 49er, andthen drives for a layup.

Allen now gets his full hand on a shot, and Olmos finishes at the other wnd with a big dunk. Normally stoic, he is pumped, yelling “let’s go!” while running down the court.

Goldwire finally sticks a three and Tyndale answers. Goldwire tries another and misses, while Tyndale beasts his way for an acrobatic offensive board and putback, then dives on the ground for a loose ball. He’s willing to get his all-white shoes dirty today. Just due to his tenacity, he’s probably the Big 5 Player of the Year in my book.

14:45 1st Half: Temple 7, Charlotte 5

Goldwire has missed two threes to start it off, but they’ve barely stayed out. He won the game for them last time, and is ready to do it again. He won’t score right away, but draws a quick charge on Christmas.

Olmos is playing with a little passion, powering his way to the hoop. Meanwhile, Mack connects on his second shot, putting his team on the board with four minutes gone.

Guzman is left wide open, and he hits a three, only to be answered by Goldwire. Over Olmos. Impressive.

Starters:

Temple:
G Luiz Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
G Mark Tyndale
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos

Charlotte:
G Leemire Goldwire
G Dijuan Harris
F Charlie Coley
F Lamont Mack
F An’Juan Wilderness

ATLANTIC CITY — The Saint Joseph’s Hawks have been on or around the bubble for over a month now, and it call comes down to tonight against a top-10 team.

FINAL: St. Joe’s 61, Xavier 53

Box score

The crowd continues to chant, right before it just stopped it felt like a soccer game.

Carr points his index finger to the sky and Calathes and Nivins chest-bumped each other. When Lunardi throws a fist-pump toward a fan in the stands, you start to get the feeling they are in. If Temple can pull off the win over Charlotte (tipoff at 9:02 p.m.), the Big 5’s 30-year streak of having a team in the Tournament will be intact.

0:16.4 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 61, Xavier 53

Ferguson fouls out, but it won’t matter. The Hawks start a chant “this is our house!” I don’t think they’re rich enough to own the Palestra, the Fieldhouse and a place on the shore as well.

0:31.0 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 61, Xavier 51

Jackson is whistled for the block, and Calathes shoots two from the line. Wow, he’s money on the first, but misses the second, and it’s tipped all the way out to Williamson, and Calathes is fouled again.

He makes numero uno this time, hitting the second, and the crowd erupts. The Muskies miss a three, and Ferguson corrals the board. Calathes throws his arms up in celebration, this one is over!

0:54.7 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 56, Xavier 51

Calathes takes the inbounds pass down the sideline for a dunk. Burrell tries to foul Calathes on his way there telling the ref exactly that: “I tried to foul him!”

Raymond makes two free throws, and this time the Musketeers trap Calathes once he crosses the midcourt line, and he has to burn a timeout.

1:12 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 54, Xavier 47

It’s electric, the whole crowd is standing and chanting now. Nivins fouls Duncan though, and the St. Joe’s contingency gets quiet. Nivins has fouled out, and the Hawk faithful applaud his effort.

Duncan connects on both, so it’s down to five. Xavier defends St. Joe’s well on the inbounds pass, and after getting trapped, Carr calls timeout. The Hawks have two left, Xavier has none.

1:33 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 54, Xavier 47

The Xavier band plays the song “I’m a believer,” and it may have helped - Carr throws an atrocious pass that Burrell takes coast-to-coast, and Ferguson misses. St. Joe’s tournament hopes lie in these final 93 seconds. While I’m not sure they’re a better team than Temple, the Hawks couldn’t be left out after winning two against Xavier, especially with all of the bubble teams that have lost.

2:32 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 54, Xavier 45

Love grabs an offensive rebound after a miss by, who else, Duncan, and puts it in for two. Nivins has to be careful - he’s got four fouls. He gets hit, though, and heads to the line as both teams are now in the double-bonus and are shooting two.

Williamson and Lidzius are the defensive subs for the Hawks, with Ferguson and Govens as the offensive counterparts.

Xavier needs some plays, and fast, but after Burrell barely misses a three, Duncan cleans up.

3:49 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 53, Xavier 41

Xavier continues to throw up bricks, this is shocking. Williamson just barely misses a dagger with a corner three, but Love, the Abington Friends product (he played along with Penn’s Aron Cohen in the Philly suburban Quaker school), loses it out of bounds.

Nivins is called for a walk, and Xavier takes over. Lidzius is still in for the Hawks, he’s played alright so far.

5:09 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 53, Xavier 41

Brown throws down a monstrous dunk, but his team is still down by nine. He and Duncan miss threes, and Calathes and Nivins widen the lead by hitting 3-of-4 on 1-and-1s.

Duncan has Nivins in his grill, and can’t finish the bank.

7:44 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 51, Xavier 39

My apologies, the internet decided to stop working for the moment. The Hawks had built up a 15-point lead on a 15-0 run that started before the half, but the Musketeers are clawing back slowly.

Halftime, St. Joe’s 27, Xavier 20

Williamson misses a tough layup to beat the shot clock. Duncan continues to struggle mightily, missing an open three. He forces Nivins into a a bad shot, though.

After Xavier patiently turns it over, Calathes makes a textbook left-handed and-1 layup, and the Hawks are on a 7-0 run.

The Muskies lose control, get it back, but commit a shot-clock violation, and the Hawks call timeout with 13.7 left in the half. On the final play, the Musketeers go zone, but Calathes punishes them with a three from the corner, and the Hawks go up 10 at the half.

2:41 1st Half, St. Joe’s 24, Xavier 20

Carr dribbles around for a while, but then finds Lidzius for a layup. In response, Burrell tosses a nice alley-oop to Brown. It’s kind of ugly, but it’s been an exciting game so far.

Calathes finally hits an open three, and Josh Duncan, the leading scorer for the Musketeers, airballs a double-clutch layup. Calathes then gets whistled for his second foul, and it looks like a bad call. He agrees.

Carr dribbles it off of someone’s leg, and Xavier ties it up in transition. He then draws a reach-in, and Ferguson takes back the lead with a jumper. Carr now almost loses it, but finds Ferguson for a tough layup. The crowd is now real loud, and nearly erupts as Carr’s three goes halfway down, but then out.

Duncan misses an easy shot, and Calathes bricks a long, but wide-open three. The crowd keeps getting bigger - the stadium is about two-thirds full. It also looks more empty than it is because there are a few sections of seats that are a good 20 feet behind the basket, but still parallel to the benches. I’m not sure if they even sell tickets to those sections.

7:50 1st Half, St. Joe’s 15, Xavier 14

The Hawks are running at Xavier on the perimeter, forcing it to put up mid-range jumpers. Meanwhile, the Hawks continue to brick jumpers, as Govens’ three goes in-and-out.

Bad news for St. Joe’s - Nivins picks up his second foul (team’s second), and Arvydas Lidzius, who has played alright, comes in.

The Hawks are missing just about everything now, but Williamson gets to the line, trying to maintain the lead. He makes two and once again the Musketeers throw it away.

Calathes is getting nothing done on the offensive end, and he now fouls Love for an and-1 that pulls Xavier to within one.

Lavender makes perhaps his first good play of the game, hitting a bank over Williamson. The teams trade turnovers, and the low-scoring game continues.

The Xavier cheerleaders do the the thing where they run onto the court and spell out X-A-V-I-E-R while sliding on th ground. It’s like Soulja Boy - cool the first couple times you see it but gets old fast.

11:45 1st Half, St. Joe’s 11, Xavier 6

Lavender throws up what I believe was an alley-oop, but no one went for it, and it glances harmlessly off the basket. Then, the solid jump-shooting Ferguson nails a 16-footer. Burrell blows by Garrett Williamson, but nearly turns it over. He’s one of six Musketeers averaging double-figures.

After an offensive foul, Nivins spins for a two, but Anderson answers in the lane. The Nivins-Ferguson duo inside is killing the top seed. Williamson grabs a steal, but his first dribble takes him out of bounds.

15:45 1st Half, St. Joe’s 5, Xavier 2

I’m starting to feel a buzz about the place for the first time. The St. Joe’s fans start their fake fight song, “O when the Hawk, goes marching in…”

The teams are out on the floor, and we’re ready to go.

Nivins grabs the tip, and then seals Love beautifully, taking the lob from Govens in for two. The Hawks, switching on screens, force Lavender into an airball over Calathes and the crowd loves it. Nivins misses a shot, but throws a shot out of bounds

Lavender bricks a layup over Ferguson, but Anderson cuts to the hoop to put Xavier on the board. Neither team is hitting anything, as Calathes misses a three.

Calathes hits Nivins, and he beasts Dante Jackson for an and-1. Jackson forces Ferguson into a jump ball though, and after the whistle the forward nails a bank while sitting on his behind.

The crowd is as big as I have ever seen at Boardwalk Hall. That doesn’t say much, but both these teams travel well, and it looks more than half full.

_____
Xavier had a bit of trouble with 9-seed Dayton, but the conference’s top team and NCAA Tourney lock is going to be a really tough out. The Musketeers are 27-5, with two of those losses coming against the Big 5 - at Temple and at St. Joe’s just over a week ago. The rubber match will be a good one - the Hawks have absolutely blown away their inferior opponents in 12-seed Fordham and 4th-seeded Richmond.

The fans are still filing in with eight minutes until tipoff, and it’s only about a third full, though the Hawks’ student section is pretty full

Neither team is on the floor with six minutes to go, so it’s quiet. A fan yells to Joe Lunardi, the Hawks’ radio analyst slash ESPN’s bracketologist “Last four in!?” and Joe humors him by saying ‘yes’. Hawks finally come back in with five minutes before tipoff, and the Muskeys follow with only 2:30 on the clock. The student section chants its coach’s name as Phil Martelli finally comes onto the floor, giving the fans a little wave. The crowd is getting a little bigger now, Martelli promised it would be sold out…

Starters

Xavier:
G Drew Lavender
G Stanley Burrell
G C.J. Anderson
F Derrick Brown
F Jason Love

St. Joe’s:
G Tasheed Carr
G Darrin Govens
F Pat Calathes
F Rob Ferguson
C Ahmad Nivins

ATLANTIC CITY — The last time these two teams played, it was a joke. Temple was doubling up La Salle by halftime, and cruised to a 85-66 victory to win a share of the Big 5 title. To make matters worse, it was at La Salle and on Senior Day. The Explorers come into this game trying to make the A-10 semifinals and get some revenge while they’re at it.

FINAL: Temple 84, La Salle 75

(Internet screws up with 2:00 to go, convenient). Clark pulls up from NBA range over Harris, on a shot that hits the side of the rim and bounces in, and the Owls have a five-point lead.

Mekongo Mbala airballs a three on the next possession, and the Explorers are in trouble.

Clark misses the first foul shot, makes the second, putting Temple up by six.

La Salle all but turns it over in order to get the ball to Harris, who attempts an absolutely absurd three that is halfway down, but barely bounces out.

Temple is up by seven, and now in control.Temple employs the Red and Blue Crew’s “Hey Song,” and La Salle runs out the clock.

Harris gives Clark a hug after the game, and Tyndale then embraces the La Salle senior, and has some comforting words for him.

1:35 2nd Half: Temple 77, La Salle 75

Mekongo Mbala hits one from the line, and cut the lead to one with a very nice reverse layup over Olmos.

That is what he does. Harris takes the lead with a monumental three with just over two minutes to go.

Just a few seconds later, Olmos hits an and-1, and the game is tied with his missed FT. Harris pumps Clark, and goes up for a long three that just barely hits the back iron. Harris then makes the mistake of fouling Clark on the long rebound.

3:40 2nd Half: Temple 73, La Salle 69

Harris makes two on the one-and-one, and after a stop Mekongo Mbala picks up Lavoy Allen’s fourth.

4:37 2nd Half: Temple 71, La Salle 67

Guillandeaux, who loves to seal a smaller man an receive a lob, can’t hang on and the ball goes to the Owls, where Allen grabs a strong o-reb and makes one from the line.

Christmas drives baseline and finds Brooks for a three from the corner. Tyndale tries to raise the lead to six, but Guillandeaux draws a charge, and his fourth foul.

Green was on the bench with four fouls, but he’s back in now, and misses a three. I don’t have stats, but he’s been great tonight.

6:46 2nd Half: Temple 67, La Salle 65

I don’t know what the 5-8 Clark was thinking by shooting over two La Salle forwards in the paint, but he makes up for it by hitting a three from the corner.

Barrett scores inside to take the lead, followed by Christmas getting wet on a three to take the advantage back in Temple’s favor.

8:29 2nd Half: Temple 61, La Salle 63

Hello… Harris comes off a screen and buries a long three.

Green makes Temple pay for putting a forward on him and the game is tied for the first time tonight. Christmas comes back by getting to the line, but Barrett swings the ball to Green, who was wide open due to the double-team on Harris.

Somehow, La Salle has taken the lead. Green gets fouled, and will get to build on that.

11:26 2nd Half: Temple 59, La Salle 54

Another post here got deleted, but La Salle has begun to creep back into it. Green scores on the inside, and then dishes to Mekongo Mbala for a dunk. Then, the big man is left alone for a three, which he hits with no problem, and Guillandeaux connects on a trey as well.

Barrett scores, but then Allen dunks it home over him.

15:05 2nd Half: Temple 53, La Salle 41

Sergio Olmos has exploded this half. He starts it off with an 18-footer that he looked like he didn’t really want to take, but since they leave him alone he hits it anyway. Then, Tyndale hits the big Spaniard for a layup, and Olmos scores yet again to up the lead to 14.

Olmos gets to the hoop yet again, prompting another “ole!” chant. Barrett temporarily silences the crowd with a very strong layup.

Halftime: Temple 41, La Salle 35

Green’s fantastic half continues as he feeds Mekongo Mbala on the backdoor cut. After a Harris turnover, Clark lets the clock run down, and gets it to Brooks, but the three at the buzzer won’t go.

It was a great beginning for Temple, but La Salle has proved that it belongs in this game. The Owls lead, but this game is heating up and you never know what will happen with these two teams.

1:11 1st Half: Temple 43, La Salle 33

Harris sinks all three, and it’s a five-point game. Olmos comes back with a nice post move.

Ohhhhhhh man, Harris is starting to feel it, he splashes a three over Clark. Christmas makes a tough shot himself over Guillandeaux to make it a seven-point game, and Brooks gets the lead to eight with a three of his own.

Tyndale passes the ball, but is called with a charge.

3:56 1st Half: Temple 33, La Salle 25

Harris gets pinned on the backboard by Olmos, but it’s called a goaltend. That may have been his first basket of the game, he’s been blanketed by Guzman and company. I really think that was a bad call.

Terrell Williams fouls Olmos, and the La Salle fans chant “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” The freshmen twins have accounted for half of the Explorers’ eight fouls so far.Harris comes off of a screen and misses the three, but he’s fouled and will go to the line for three.

5:28 1st Half: Temple 31, La Salle 20

La Salle is getting an offensive rebound every other minute. Unfortunately for them, the Explorers are also fouling often too. Johnson puts Christmas on the line for the 1-and-1, and the junior star hits two. Temple is getting whistled for a lot of soft fouls, these aren’t bad calls, but could go either way.

Green makes a backdoor cut, and finishes with a flush. He airballs a three though, and Tyndale swiftly goes in for a baseline layin.

7:28 1st Half: Temple 25, La Salle 17

Barrett scores inside, and then off of a steal, Harris shows off his hops with a nice two-handed dunk.

Tyndale comes back with a three, the teams trade misses from deep and then Christmas takes it to the hoop for a hoop and the harm.

Chris Clark, the smallest player in Boardwalk Hall strips Mekongo Mbala, but the ball goes to Green, who drains a three from the corner. He’s got either eight or 10 of La Salle’s 17 points.

11:26 1st Half: Temple 19, La Salle 9

Christmas gives Harris a little nudge, he falls, and then Christmas hits a three. Green gets a put-back to go for La Salle.

They are trapping Harris when possible, but he dishes to Green for an and-1. The next possession, Green gets trapped in the same place, but gets it to Kimmani Barrett, who spins and then passes to Terrell Williams, who spins twice and scores on an and-1. His twin is out with two fouls, but he can get it done.

La Salle heads to a 1-2-2 zone for one possession, and it forces the Owls into a turnover

Tyndale makes a pass to Christmas on a beautiful backdoor cut to the basket.

15:17 1st Half: Temple 11, La Salle 2

Christmas gets fouled on a three, and Dr. John Giannini is pissed. Christmas only hits one, but his team is up 9-0. Mekongo Mbala misses a three. Nothing is hitting for the Explorers, and when that happens, this team is hard to watch.

After about every player had bricked, Mekongo Mbala scores off of a put-back. Guzman gives the Explorer Entourage nothing to celebrate about by making a real tough Williams is whistled for an offensive foul, and that’s his second.

17:41 1st Half: Temple 8, La Salle 0

Allen gets inside and scores from point blank to score first for Temple, and Tyndale makes it 4-0.

The game starts off scrappy, a couple fouls called on La Salle. Olmos is bleeding after Williams hit him, and Olmos is complaining to the ref about it as he has to go to the bench to get cleaned up. The La Salle fans mock the common Temple chant by cheering “Ole, ole ole, ole!”
The crowd is still a little sparse, but filling out now. It’s pretty loud for how small it is.

_____
La Salle, the 7-seed, knocked off Duquesne last night in an absolute thriller. The Dukes led by three with a minute to go before Darnell Harris nailed a 27-footer to tie it up, and guards Rodney Green and Ruben Guilandeaux hit three free throws to win the game. Second-seeded Temple earned the first-round bye. With an RPI of 61, the Owls need to at least get to the finals in order to make the NCAA Tournament.

In front of me, La Salle is practicing defense, both team and one-the-ball defending. The Temple student section is on this side as well, and after Darnell Harris finishes a drill, a fan yells at him “Harris, you can’t play defense!” (a true statement), then saying that he’s going to be stopped from hitting threes. Harris lets his sense of humor show, amiably saying something back to the fans while grinning.

With two minutes before tipoff, there aren’t too many fans, but the ones that are here are fairly loud.

Starters:

La Salle:
G Darnell Harris
G Rodney Green
F Paul Johnson
F Jerrell Williams
F Yves Mekongo Mbala

Temple:
G Luiz Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
G Mark Tyndale
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos

ATLANTIC CITY –The internet is a little spotty here, but it’s finally back working as 5-seed Saint Joseph’s goes up against 4-seed Richmond in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

0:17.7 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 61, Richmond 45

Sylla hits a transition jumper, and it is now a 13-point game. If Richmond had hit some threes, this would be a legit game.

Carr hits with the shot clock winding down. This is becoming real commonplace.

3:34 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 54, Richmond 37

There’s no shot clock today for the Hawks, just a timer for seconds until they will score. Govens shoots a three in Harper’s eye as the clock winds down, and the Hawks lead by 17. Richmond isn’t hitting anything. The Spiders may be getting looks outside, but they are being absolutely shut down in the paint. Govens blocks a guard inside so hard that he forces a jump ball.

Williamson absolutely rejects Sylla, but to his dismay, the play was a little too violent for the refs’ liking. Nivins now comes flying through the air for a block, but it’s called a goaltend. He was a good 11 feet in the air, a la the Mark Tyndale block early this year.

I have to take this time to complain about the Richmond mascot. The Spider, which started the game as a normal-person type of costume and is now blown up with air, has only four limbs! If I didn’t know Richmond’s nickname I’d have thought they were the bugs.

7:35 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 47, Richmond 33

Just lost my last post due to flickering internet, but the Hawks are still keeping Richmond at a distance. Ferguson leaves Anderson open for a three though, and he gets Richmond to within nine.

Calathes gets the Hawks right back to a double-digit lead with a three after Carr cleared out the space for him.

Calathes now blocks Geriot from behind rather impressively, without drawing a foul. He’s got three blocks now, I believe.

As Nivins powers his way for two, St. Joe’s has opened up a nice lead. If you would have asked me, I’d say St. Joe’s was the favorite, but perhaps not by this much.

14:58 2nd Half, St. Joe’s 35, Richmond 26

Anderson ends the Hawks’ 8-0 run, and his team gets the ball right back with a turnover.

Calathes gets off a nasty block and is able to keep the ball inbounds as well. Ferguson is left for another three - he still hasn’t missed a shot.

The Spiders can’t seem to muscle anything inside, but Geriot drives to the hoop for an and-1, and is real pumped about it.

A guy sits down next to me that I’ve never seen before and just starts talking to me immediately, about how he swears he saw this guy, the St. Peter’s coach while he was walking around. I at first think he just believes I’m someone I’m not, but he’s been looking at me for a good minute. Finally, he realizes that I’m not the person he thinks I am, and is in the wrong seat, about 15 feet from where he actually is. I guess white guys with black hair aren’t uncommon.

______
Stats: Ferguson is 4-for-4 from the field, and unlike last game, Nivins has started 3-of-3, leading the team with 10 and seven points, respectively. No one has made more than two shots for the Spiders, though they are shooting a respectable 40.9 percent from the floor.

Halftime, St. Joe’s 30, Richmond 22

Calathes, who has great vision on his passes, calmly finds Ferguson in the corner for a three with the first-half clock winding down. The Hawks’ lead was down to two, but they score the final six points of the half to lead a barnburner, 30-22.

0:45.3 1st Half, St. Joe’s 27, Richmond 22

Carr misses one of his patented driving bank shots, and Harper gets to the line, slicing the Hawks lead to five.

Williamson helps on the drive, and Anderson drains a wide open three from the corner, but Richmond forgets about Calathes on the other end, and it’s back to a two-possession game.

3:36 1st Half, St. Joe’s 16, Richmond 24

Ferguson, believe it or not, is already in double-figures thanks to a nice eight-foot jumper.

Kevin Smith throws a kickout pass out of bounds. You’d hope it was some kind of a miscommunication. Justin Harper then misses a three, and the Hawks arereally controlling. Nivins gets a monster rebound and puts it back for a two.

Richmond’s Kevin Anderson finally ends the drought, but the Spiders’ early lead is long gone. Anderson is semi-trapped by Carr and Nivins, and carries to turn it over. He makes a great pass for a deuce, but David Gonzalvez (no, according to the media guide that’s not a typo) compensates with another bad turnover.

7:41 1st Half, St. Joe’s 17, Richmond 12

Calathes makes a nice feed inside to Nivins for two, and then Ferguson hits a jumper to take the lead. He’s almost in double-figures already.

After a Williamson offensive foul, Ouar Sylla for the Spiders eyes up a wide open three, feels like

Calathes has the ball at the top of the key with the shot clock winding down and gives the ball up to Arvydas Lidzius off the bench, and the senior calmly connects on the finger roll to cap an 8-0 run by the Hawks.

The Hawks fans have actually showed up, unlike last night, and are ticked off at a turnover called on Darrin Govens. Phil Martelli’s assistants spend the media timeout arguing with two officials, while the third official has a min-conference with the Richmond coaching staff.

11:12 1st Half, St. Joe’s 9, Richmond 12

Gerit then hits Ryan Butler on a backdoor cut. Richmond’s 10 points have all come off of wide open baskets.

Pat Calathes, on the other hand gets ridden down the baseline and gives it up. Nivins now gets called on a travel.

Ferguson nails a Spider on a screen that had to be illegal, and then turns around and hits a three. Calathes is known as the better shooting forward for St. Joe’s, but Ferguson is deadly from deep as well. He shoots over 42 percent on the season, and made a few yesterday to aid in the blowout of Fordham.
15:32 1st Half, St. Joe’s 4, Richmond 8

St. Joe’s starts off on the wrong foot, as the Spiders use some nifty passing to get two open looks and go up 5-0.

Rob Ferguson fianlly gets St. Joe’s on the board with a tip-in, and then Tasheed Carr gets to the hoop for the Hawks’ second basket of the night. But then Dan Geriot hits a wide open three, the second for Richmond, to double-up St. Joe’s in the early going.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Explorers begin fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives against Duquesne.

FINAL: La Salle 82, Duquesne 79

Wow, Mensah gets confused on a screen and throws it into his own bench. He must have thought that his teammate was flaring when he was, in fact cutting.

Guillandeaux nails two from the line, Duquesne’s Reggie Jackson misses a three for the tie with Guillandeaux in his face (though making sure not to foul), and this game is over. La Salle is three wins away.

What a game, Jackson was unstoppable, but cooled down just at the right moment. What a shot Darnell Harris made to tie the game at 79, he is just unconscious. His passing was horrible at times, but he can shoot from NBA range with anyone in this league.

0:21.1 2nd Half: La Salle 80, Duquesne 79

No friggin way…. Harris pulls up from a good 27 feet an drains the three.

Even more incredible - after getting fouled Green (a 72.4 percent shooter from the line) continues the Explorers’ woes from the stripe, but does convert on the second to go up by one…

While the suspense is killing all in the building, the Dukes’ cheerleaders have fallen a fourth time.

1:04 2nd Half: La Salle 76, Duquesne 79

Harris is having a very bad passing day -throwing another intercepted ball, and nearling giving it away the next time down. Fortunately, for La Salle, they got a stop.

Jerrell Williams and James trade hook shots to keep the Dukes’ lead at two, but Harris draws a foul while dribbling, and ties it up at the line.

Oh, what a huge three by Reggie Jackson as Harris can’t get out in time, and Green is caught on the charge. Big turnaround with under two to go. Duquesne somehow loses the ball, slipped out of a guard’s hands, and La Salle takes over. Dr. John Giannini flips out at Guillandeaux for calling the timeout a few feet short of the halfcourt mark.
3:12 2nd Half: La Salle 72, Duquesne 73

Sorry, the wireless just cut out at the wrong time and deleted my last post. A Harris three cut the lead to two, and the game continues to go back and forth.

Bad news for La Salle. Not only does Johnson foul out, Green hits the ground in pain, but he is able to walk off the court on his own power.

7:26 2nd Half: La Salle 65, Duquesne 69

Harris makes a lazy pass that Reggie Jackson intercepts for an open layup, and the Dukes go up seven. Jerrell Williams missing the front end of a one-and-one doesn’t help either.

Harris drains a tough long two, and then hits a long, open three coming off of a screen. However he misses the heat check the next time down. Johnson commits a useless foul, and that’s his fourth.

9:13 2nd Half: La Salle 60, Duquesne 65

Just when one team looks to take over, the other keeps it close. Duquesne went on a 7-0 run to take a four-point lead, but Green takes it to the hoop for an and-1 layup.

Reggie Jackson scores twice on a nice move, and Achara thwarts Jerrell Williams’ move inside.

10:50 2nd Half: La Salle 57, Duquesne 59

Mekongo Mbala and Reggie Jackson quickly trade threes, as the Explorers lead by one.

Diaz fouls Reggie Jackson, and yet again the Dukes go to the line for three shots. The freebies tie it at 57, and a La Salle turnover takes the lead. The refs are really calling a lot of touch fouls, and the crowd for both sides is getting aggravated.

I don’t know if they’re missing all of their guys, but the Duquesne cheerleaders have slipped a good three times this game. No one’s gotten hurt, but I’m getting worried, to be honest.

12:50 2nd Half: La Salle 52, Duquesne 51

The Dukes start the half off hot - each of their three starting guards takes it to the basket for two. Harris connects with Johnson for an alley-oop, but he then commits a foul on a three-pointer to give the lead back to Duquesne.

Barrett gets yet another offensive board for the Explorers, though, and the North Philadelphia side takes back the lead. Then Sherman Diaz puts back the missed shot from the line to take back that three-point advantage. Just then, Clark comes back with an and-1 of his own.

Halftime: La Salle 39, Duquesne 36

Harris may have been knocked straight, as he hits the ground hard while taking a charge, but comes back to tie it the next possession with a long jumper. Mekongo Mbala gets an offensive rebound and puts in a five-footer for an and-1 to take the lead for the first time in a while.

Yves then gets a tough rebound, turns over the outlet pass, and then grabs another physical rebound before getting fouled., and hitting two from the line.

Reggie Jackson does a great job of sealing his defender and making the lefty layup.

Tucker bricks the front end of a one-and-one, Guillandeaux misses and the Explorers go into the half up by three.

6:30 1st Half, La Salle 32, Duquesne 34

The Duquesne guards are quick, and can get into the paint at will. They’re not hitting their free throw, though.

Williams, I believe, makes a perfect pass is transition to Ruben Guillandeaux, who spins to the basket for two. The Dukes are able to score inside to keep hold of the lead with a bank inside.

For some reason, Duquesne has no band, and it’s kind of awkwardly silent when their cheerleaders do a routine.

6:30 1st Half, La Salle 29, Duquesne 31

Terrell Williams gets blocked twice inside sans foul. La Salle is hitting about double the percentage from two as it has from beyond the arc. This is as scrappy and fast a game as I’ve seen in a while. La Salle and Duquesne get a ton of looks inside - many on offensive rebounds - but the interior defense has been good, with the finishing equally bad.

Green lightly dunks one home on a break, I’d guess the Explorers’ fifth slam of the night. Jerrell Williams followsa shot to tie it up, but the Dukes nail two open threes to open up a six-point lead.

Sherman Diaz, off the bench, feeds Mekongo Mbala for two and then forces an errant three from Reggie Jackson. After hitting a jumper, Jerrell Williams gets tripped up and falls hard. He grimaces, but seems to be fine now.

11:41 1st Half, La Salle 20, Duquesne 23

Aaron Jackson’s crossover is too quick for the Explorer defenders, as he turns a drive into a nasty reverse layup. But Williams hits a long two to take the lead right back.

Barrett misses two free throws, hits a three and then turns it over on the third trip down. Meanwhile, Achara steps out and hits a three to break the tie. With 43 total points in 7:30, this game is going to be real high-scoring. La Salle plays fast, and the Dukes average 75.6 possessions per 40 minutes.

17:14 1st Half, La Salle 15, Duquesne 14

Duquesne may hit a mere 31 percent from three, but they have hit two big ones early - one contested, one not.

Green comes right back with a beautiful alley-oop to Johnson, though, and Mekongo Mbala comes back with another transition dunk.

17:14 1st Half, La Salle 10, Duquesne 8
The Explorers have come out on fire. Green sealed his man for a lob inside, and Darnell Harris and

Holy sh… Tucker just put Williams on a poster with a monster dunk, Jordan style, spreading his legs. And he’s no forward — the senior is only 6-1.

Johnson gets Duquesne back with an and-1 dunk of his own.

___________
Starters:

La Salle:
G Darnell Harris
G Rodney Green
F Paul Johnson
F Yves Mekongo Mbala
F Jerrell Williams

Duquesne:
G Reggie Jackson
G Aaron Jackson
G Gary Tucker
F Bill Clark
C Shawn James

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Three of the four Philly teams’ Tournament lives are in the balance this week here in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall. La Salle faces Duquesne, and Saint Joseph’s goes up against Fordham today, and Temple, which earned the 2-seed and a bye, faces the La Salle-Duquesne winner tomorrow.

FINAL: St. Joe’s 80, Fordham 62

The Hawk will live another day. St. Joe’s gives its starters a much-deserved break for the final 10 minutes. Even C.J. Brown, 8 minutes to his name this season, gets in the game for a minute.

Outside of the opening 10 minutes, this game was never close. Fordham didn’t hit enough threes, and St. Joe’s was left too open on the outside, and penetrated with too much ease.

1:11 2nd Half: St. Joe’s 78, Fordham 62

Hilliard throws it down as zeros hit on the shot clock. It probably shouldn’t have counted, but I’m not sure anyone cares at this point. After a three, Fordham puts on a press, but even the Hawks’ 7th-through-11th men can easily break it.

Haha, Green takes a steal and throws down a ridiculous 180 dunk, but hangs on the rim so much that he draws a technical. Rivera misses both from the line though, so it doesn’t matter. I really credit Martelli for leaving the scrubs in, but they have barely held on. Fordham is only down 16, and they’ve missed a bunch of threes.

3:49 2nd Half: St. Joe’s 74, Fordham 51

After Hilliard throws a layup out of bounds, Butler jacks up an airball, and Calathes takes it the other way for an and-1.

Edwin Lashley is now in at guard for the Hawks, I’ve never seen him play before. Fordham had the checking line in, but the starting lineup comes right back in for the shift.

It doesn’t make any difference, though, as Nivins hits a nasty turnaround over Dunston with the shot clock winding down. He gets an ovation as he gets subbed out for Arydas Lidzius. D.J. Rivera comes in for Govens, and there are no starters in the game as of now.

The Fordham Ram is ridiculous, it just stretched and fell over, thudding on the ground, clearly on purpose. That’s all the entertainment Fordham fans will get today.

7:52 2nd Half: St. Joe’s 68, Fordham 43

The Hawks have kept everyone in the top-6 rotation in for a while, but Idris Hilliard gets into the game finally. I’m sure Phil Martelli would love to keep up this 23-point lead to rest some guys for tomorrow.

Nivins takes an offensive rebound for an and-1, and then ups the lead to 25 with another hoop and harm two possessions later. If Nivins has a bad half, he usually follows it up with a productive second.

15:00 2nd Half: St. Joe’s 58, Fordham 32

This isn’t even fair. Calathes is left open for a three to open up a 25-point lead. Meanwhile, Fordham is just getting nothing to fall.

Anderson gets an offensive board, but Ferguson throws the ball to mid-court, where Govens picks it up and hits Calathes with a behind-the-back pass for a layin. Govens hits Nivins the next possession on a no-look dish for Nivins’ first points.

Dunston is tired of this, and throws down an and-1 dunk over Ferguson. The teams trade threes, but that sure isn’t going to do it. If Fordham shut out the Hawks the rest of the game, it would still need to score about 1.6 points per minute.

Halftime Stats: The Hawks are shooting no better than they did last time against Fordham. Well, 64 percent is still fairly respectable. Other than Nivins, who is somehow 0-for-4, they have hit 16-of-24 from the floor.

Halftime: St. Joe’s 44, Fordham 25

Carr simply plucks Brenton Butler, and goes in for the open layup. The Hawks are on a 24-5 run in the last 10 minutes or so. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I’d be surprised if the Rams have more than five field goals.

With the shot clock winding down, Williamson hurls the ball at the basket, and it nearly goes in off the bank, but bounces to Calathes, who gets fouled.

The lanky forward finishes the half out on a good note, scoring with only five seconds to go. This is a severe beating Fordham is taking.

3:34 1st Half, St. Joe’s 38, Fordham 19

Fordham’s defense is really starting to fail. Calathes just teases Binns with the step-back jumper, and the Rams inconceivably leave Ferguson wide open for three. He’s 2-of-3 today, and 42.2 percent on the season. Stout then leaves Williamson wide open for a three from the corner, and it goes down.

Wow, with the shot clock winding down, Carr hesitantly goes up for a three from the top of the key, and drains it over Stout. If the Hawks keep shooting the way they are and the Rams keep missing free throws, this is going to get out of hand quickly.

Calathes drives for a layup, Carr is wet on a three coming off of a screen and Dereck Whittenburg needs a timeout.

7:56 1st Half, St. Joe’s 22, Fordham 16

Nivins pins Binns’ shot on the backboard, and then rejects him again. The big man can’t convert on the other end, though, despite getting two cracks at it. After a foul each by Calathes and Nivins, Stout hits one from the line.

Finally, someone hits a three. Ferguson connects from the top of the key, and Williamson shrewdly waits for Anderson to catch up to him on the fastbreak, turning it into another three-point play.

There really aren’t too many Hawks fans here, although except for the last minute, there hasn’t been anything exciting to cheer about yet.

11:29 1st Half, St. Joe’s 14, Fordham 11

Fordham takes an early advantage, but the Hawks come back with a few easy layups by Nivins, Carr and Calathes to take the lead.

Fordham cuts the lead to one now on a pair of free throws, but Calathes hits a nice elbow jumper over Greene to bump it up to three. Both teams are in a man defense. Green isn’t a bad defende, but Calathes has four early points on him.

Dunston powers his way through for a deuce, but Carr answers with a sweet bank. Garrett Williamson, now in the game for Govens, hits Ferguson, who gets fouled.

_______
St. Joe’s plays in the first game of the day, tipping off at, I’ll estimate 2:43 p.m. The Hawks (RPI=55) need to beat Fordham (RPI=161) and Richmond (RPI=115) to even have a shot of making the NCAA Tournament. They might need to reach the championship to do it, and barring a Dayton win, the Hawks must survive a rubber match with No. 8 Xavier.

There are more Fordham fans than there were SLU faithful, but still there aren’t many. Just like last year, the first round draws very few fans. There was actually a very loud Billikens fan right behind me, but apparently he’s switched to support Fordham. The two bands now play against each other, as Fordham was doing something, and the St. Joe’s band plays “When the Hawk comes marching in.”

Dunston is Fordham’s player to watch, he’s averaging a double-double.

Starters:

St. Joe’s:
G Tasheed Carr
G Darrin Govens
F Pat Calathes
F Rob Ferguson
C Ahmad Nivins

Fordham:
G Marcus Stout
G Kevin Anderson
F Michael Binns
F Sebastian Greene
C Bryant Dunston

_________

Dayton 63, Saint Louis 62, OT

In today’s first game, Dayton led pretty much all the way through. Saint Louis, which had been laying bricks all day, finally hit two threes to cut the lead to six and then stole an inbounds pass, to cut the lead to four with under three to go. Tommie Liddell then made a fantastic move on the baseline to make it 55-52 with 1:08 left, and they nearly got it back with a five-second call on the inbounds pass.

Then everything went crazy. An errant buzzer went off as Liddell was going up for a three at the top of the key, so the defense essentially stopped, while the three tickled the nylon. Dayton’s coach went berserk, but it won’t matter, it’s tied at 55.

After a charge, SLU gets one chance to win it. But London Warren plucks Saint Louis’ Kevin Lisch, but he misses the bank for the win. The ball is slapped out, and Andres Sandoval’s NBA three for the win clanks off the rim, and it heads to overtime.

In the extra session, each team trades threes, until yet another inbounds pass went awry for Dayton, giving SLU the ball down one with 1:35 to go. Danny Brown then made a fantastic and-1 teardrop, but Dayton takes the one-point lead right back.

Warren plays fantastic defense on Lisch, wasting the clock down to 6 seconds before he can give it up for a desperation three, and Dayton barely hangs on for the 63-62 win. The Flyers (RPI=33) are an impressive 21-9, and may be in the tournament already, though a win over No. 8 Xavier would really help.

Wednesday at Boardwalk Hall:
No. 8 Dayton vs. No. 9 Saint Louis, 12 p.m.
No. 5 Saint Joseph’s vs. No. 12 Fordham, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 La Salle vs. No. 10 Duquesne, 6:30 p.m.
No. 6 Charlotte vs. No. 11 Rhode Island, 9 p.m.

Thursday:
No. 1 Xavier vs. Dayton/Saint Louis, 12 p.m.
No. 4 Richmond vs. St. Joe’s/Fordham, 2:30 p.m.
No. 2 Temple vs. La Salle/Duquesne, 6:30 p.m.
No. 3 Massachusetts vs. Charlotte/URI, 9 p.m.

FINAL: Temple 85, La Salle 66

The Owls controlled all day today against the Explorers. La Salle played a good second half to make it relatively close, but never got to within single-digits, as they’ll have to win four-straight games to win the A-10 title.

Chris Clark was unconscious from three today, hitting 6-for-7 for the Owls for 22 points, while Tyndale and Christmas added 14 and 19, respectively. Darnell Harris scored 26 points on 11-for-21 shooting, but the majority of those came in the second half when it was too late.

_________

Temple fans show a “Big 5 Champs” rollout, as they and Villanova share this year’s title.

Temple now has in a player - Orlando Miller, number 43 - who has no name on the back of his jersey.

1:46 2nd Half: Temple 83, La Salle 63

Wow, the Temple student section, as high up and small as possible, sings the “Hey Song” for about 30 seconds, yelling “you suck” at the La Salle bench.

Christmas hits a long jumper with a few seconds remaining in the shot clock, and then nails a dagger from three. He’s got 10 straight points for Temple now. The Owls are shooting over 50 percent from the floor, and are now up by 20.

3:30 2nd Half: Temple 76, La Salle 60

Christmas is left wide open and makes La Salle pay with a three. Harris is trying to take over, hitting turnarounds on consecutive possessions. Olmos gets the ball inside, but once again is blocked on the way up.

5:45 2nd Half: Temple 71, La Salle 56

The game has gotten slightly less-physical, but the refs are still calling a lot. Clark is called for a push, and La Salle capitalizes with one from the line.

Mekongo Mbala gets a bail out call on Allen, his fourth for Temple. He hits a big two from the line, and it’s back to 10.

Tyndale hits a big three with a man in his face, and Mekongo Mbala misses a three on the other end.

7:54 2nd Half: Temple 66, La Salle 53

Jerrell Williams scores to cut the lead to 13, but Olmos gets them right back with an and-1. Olmos then connects on a pretty hook, and Williams scores again on the other end.

Mekongo Mbala is left open at the top of the key, and nails a three. Clark misses his first shot of the game, and is now a mere 8-for-9, 22 points.

The Explorers are slowly coming back. Their defense has improved (though Temple is still getting good looks) and the offense has been lighting it up this half - they’ve doubled their first-half total in only 12 minutes.

11:21 2nd Half: Temple 61, La Salle 46

Harris yells “give it to me” to Diaz, and draws a foul. La Salle is already in the 1-and-1, but Harris misses the front end. He backs Clark down and hits a nasty turn-around jumper, though.

15:06 2nd Half: Temple 61, La Salle 44

Johnson draws his fourth charge of the game, and his second on Christmas. Honestly, I thought it should have gone un-called. Mekongo Mbala connects on a spin move for an and-1, and La Salle is back within 16.

Harris hits, and the crowd is beginning to wake up. The small Cherry and White contingency was by far louder before.

Wow, Clark hits again, and he’s 8-for-8 from the field now, 6-of-6 from three.

15:41 2nd Half: Temple 56, La Salle 35

Christmas hits Clark for a big three, and now the point guard is 6-for-6. Then the next possession, Clark nails his seventh-straight shot and his fifth three.

The La Salle fans roll out the first sign of the game: “It’s ok, we like Dr. G better,” I guess referring to the fact that they couldn’t get Fran Dunphy as their coach, but Dr. John Giannini is better.

17:29 2nd Half: Temple 50, La Salle 35

Mekongo Mbala and Harris both get inside for layups, and Green hits a 10-foot jumper to cut the lead to 18. Temple is missing threes, allowing the Explorers to make a small run. Meanwhile, Harris drains a three to open up the 9-0 run, as Dunphy calls timeout. The Explorers are a volatile team - they can heat up in a second.

Halftime: La Salle 26, Temple 50

Harris is really struggling from the floor, he’s 3-for-9 for eight points. On the other end, Chris Clark is lights out - he’s hit 5-for-5 from the field and has 13 points.

Christmas takes a beautiful give-and-go for a two, and Brooks’ drive makes it 50 for Temple to close out the half

2:45 1st Half: La Salle 24, Temple 44

Clark hits a wide-open three and Temple is running away with it now.

Before that last hoop by the Explorers, Temple was on a 25-7 run.

Paul Johnson has had a great defensive first half. The forward who nearly went to Penn takes his third charge of the first half. He then takes a backdoor cut for a thunderous jam. He’s got his hands full with Tyndale though, he’s playing well, but not sure he’s really getting the best of this matchup.

Clark nails a three with Green in his grill, and then does it again right over Harris the next possession.

Tyndale hits a three, and La Salle is getting doubled-up. Tyndale is taking out anyone in his sight, he’s so strong on the drive that defenders often just fall out of the way.

7:48 1st Half: La Salle 16, Temple 28

Barrett gets rejected twice by Allen, and then Brooks hits a three for Temple. Willliams hits one to bring the lead to five.

Once again, Brooks hits Olmos for the lob inside for an easy two.

La Salle grad and ESPN analyst Tim Legler is in the house, as is Philly basketball legend Sonny Hill. An interesting tidbit about Legler - his girlfriend is an Eagles cheerleader, and is also here tonight.

10:25 1st Half: La Salle 12, Temple 20

Olmos takes a lob for an easy two. Temple’s looking at this all day.

This is an amazingly physical game so far, as Christmas and Mbala go hurling toward the floor. It’s the last regular season game for both schools, and they’re going all out.

Jerrell Williams misses from point-blank range after an offensive rebound as Temple leads by five. He makes a nasty spin move on Olmos, though, to take it for a reverse layup.

Johnson takes yet another charge

15:29 1st Half: La Salle 10, Temple 10

On the game’s first play, Christmas drives hard to the basket, bu Johnson draws a charge. And just like that, La Salle goes up 2-0 on a beautiful alley-oop from Diaz to Rodney Green.

Christmas scores, but a Harris three puts La Salle back on top.

Christmas is playing well on both ends so far, forcing an airballed three, but just as I say this Harris nails one the next possession.

I didn’t know anyone could be worse at throwing out T-shirts than the Penn cheerleaders, but I almost caught one from the La Salle cheerleaders, and I’m courtside.

______

Welcome to Tom Gola Arena, I bet none of you expected the Big 5 title to be decided by this game between the two North Philly foes.

Villanova (3-1) has secured a share of the Big 5 title, the other half to be determined tonight as La Salle (2-1) faces off against Temple (2-1). Both teams have beaten Penn and St. Joe’s (surprisingly) and lost to the Wildcats.

These two teams, along with St. Joe’s, have produced three of the best Big 5 games in years this season, and this hopes to be another classic. La Salle shoots lights out from deep, but doesn’t play too much defense. For Temple, the dynamic duo of Mark Tyndale and Dionte Christmas are always a thrill to watch. If I had to guess, this game will be played in the 80s or 90s.

This is an especially big game for both squads because it’s the final game of the regular season before both teams head to Atlantic City for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Temple (10-5) has clinched one of the four byes in the first round, while La Salle (8-7) would get one with a win and a little help.

Sherman Diaz starts for La Salle on Senior Day, and in honor of him they played the national anthem of Trinidad and Tobago

Starters:

Temple:
G Luiz Guzman
G Dionte Christmas
G Mark Tyndale
F Lavoy Allen
C Sergio Olmos

La Salle:
G Darnell Harris
G Rodney Green
F Sherman Diaz
F Paul Johnson
F Yves Mekongo Mbala

There’s a 30-year record that could be snapped this year in college basketball, and you won’t see any coverage of it on ESPN.

The Big 5 is in trouble, and for the first time since 1977 it may not get a team into the NCAA Tournament.

The ironic part about this is that it really hasn’t been a bad year for the Big 5, besides Penn that is. There have been three fantastic games (two involving Saint Joseph’s and Temple), the most-recent one even prompting Temple guard Semaj Inge to say “I just don’t like St. Joe’s. It doesn’t have anything to do with the rivalry – I just don’t like those guys.

There are four teams from the Big 5 that have a shot of making it into the Tournament, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that any one team has even a 50-50 chance.

Temple (17-12, 10-5 A-10) has secured a bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, meaning it is automatically through to the quarterfinals. St. Joe’s (17-10, 8-6) is still fighting for one of the two remaining byes, while La Salle (13-15, 8-7) needs a win over the Owls on Saturday and some help to not have to play a dangerous team like Duquesne or George Washington in round one.

Villanova (18-11, 8-9 Big East) will need to make a major run in the Big East Tournament in order to have a shot at dancing.

Here are the RPIs of the teams, followed by their Sagarin rating (combining RPI and margin of loss/victory) and games remaining on the schedule.

Villanova (59, 62) Sat. at Providence
St. Joe’s (64, 63) Thurs. vs. No. 8 Xavier, Sat. at Dayton
Temple (65, 77) Sat. at La Salle
La Salle (158, 158) Sat. vs. Temple
Penn (276, 285) Fri. vs. Cornell, Sat. vs. Columbia, Tues. at Princeton

In order to get an at-large bid, any of these teams would need to raise its RPI to in the 30s or at least the 40s. That sounds difficult, but there are some positives.

Bracketologist Joe Lunardi (slightly biased toward the Hawks, I will admit - he’s their radio announcer and a frequent guest on the critically-acclaimed show Hawk Talk with Phil Martelli) has St. Joe’s as one of the “next four out” of his projected bracket, meaning there are only 5-8 teams ahead of the Hawks in getting a tourney spot. And with wins over two teams in the RPI’s top 35 to finish the season, St. Joe’s would be right back in the mix. but then again, Xavier has only lost game this calendar year - to Temple. St. Joe’s also has going for it that it is excellent on the road with a 9-5 mark.

In fact, Lunardi’s list of 15 “bubble teams” includes St. Joe’s, Villanova and Temple.

Some other interesting notes: La Salle has the third-worst RPI in the A-10, but is in sixth place out of 14, and could finish as high as third. Villanova is playing better basketball now, slightly recovering from its five-game losing streak.

The Wildcats beat West Virginia and Connecticut at home in the last two weeks, only losing to teams in the top-25 of the RPI (Georgetown, Louisville and Marquette) since falling hard in the Holy War. St. Joe’s, on the other hand, has headed in the opposite direction after drubbing Villanova. After winning 11 of 12 from December to early February, the Hawks have dropped five of their last seven, only beating bottom-dwellers St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island.

Also, you’d have to think that the selection committee will want to admit more than one team from the A-10 - the conference has its highest RPI (flirts with the Mizzouri Valley between seventh and eighth) in the last 10 years, and has often got multiple bids, even last season when the conference RPI was 10th.

I knew ticket sales were down this year, but wow.

The athletic department has began an auction for what it calls the Men’s Basketball Radio Insider Experience, a.k.a. follow Brian Seltzer and Vince Curran around during the Penn-Columbia game.

The auction was started at $50 for one person, which seems like a lot, I guess they’re expecting bids to shoot through the roof into the four-figures.

I’m assuming the action started when I got the first of two emails about this last Thursday. So take a wild guess, how many bids have there been as I write this post? One. Yeah, i was kind of surprised too, must have been a bid from within the athletic department to look good.

Maybe this will be an excuse for Amy Gutmann to show up to a game. I haven’t been looking for her, but has the President attended more than two games this year? And before you answer in the comments section, by attended I don’t mean leave at halftime. I’d venture to say that Governor Ed Rendell has gone to more Penn games this Ivy season than she has her entire tenure. Even Harvard President Drew Faust made it up for the Crimson game.