FINAL NORTHWESTERN 10 PENN 6

The game ends with Penn hanging onto the ball for the last six minutes of the game give or take. The dream season is over for the Quakers, but they are the second best team in the nation, still nothing to sneeze out.

NU meanwhile is now the four-time National Champion.

3:31 Penn 6 NU 10
Penn just can’t get the ball. They had a great chance to do so, but they couldn’t come up with the grounball. Instead Nielsen gets the ball, runs around the back of the net, gets hit on the head, yet keeps going and then scores the wrap around. That might clinch it for the Wildcats.
5:22 Penn 6 NU 9

Northwestern calls its last timeout. Can Penn comeback and win? Yes. Will they? It’s not looking too good.

6:43 Penn 6 NU 9

Northwestern is just running out the clock it seems, and a timeout is called. The PA announcer says that tonight’s attendance is 6,125, a new record for an NCAA championship game. In the press box someone just announced that Lanthrop’s 11 saves are a season-high.

8:26 Penn 6 NU 9

One Penn shot sails high, and then another hits off the post. Those two might decide the game.

11:04 Penn 6 NU 9

A Penn goal is called off because of a foul called before the play. Too bad you can’t decline the penalty. Lanthrop saves the ensuing penalty.

11:30 Penn 6 NU 9

Nielsen decides to do some scoring of her own, earning her second goal of the night off a Frank pass.

13:43 Penn 6 NU 8
Lanthrop makes her first mistake of the night. Going for a loose ball, she doesn’t come up with possession, but guess who does? Penn’s Rachel Manson. She shoots it into the empty net, and Penn’s within two.

14:45 Penn 5 NU 8

Manson gets a great stick-check, then she draws a foul, drawing boos from the Northwestern fans. There’s a media timeout, and Penn will get possession once the game get back under way. They really need to score here.

15:20 Penn 5 NU 8
Senior Melissa Lehman gets a free-position for Penn, but the high shot is saved by Lanthrop.

16:00 Penn 5 NU 8

Penn gets that stop.

17:11 Penn 5 NU 8

Penn turns it over after coming close to getting off a shot. A quick defensive stop is their top priority.

18:07 Penn 5 NU 8

DeLuca gets her second goal of the game.

20:21 Penn 4 NU 8

Kocis gets a bouncing goal that’s unassisted.

20:52 Penn 3 NU 8

A media timeout is called, as Penn will have possession from behind the NU goal after the break. Penn hasn’t done any of the things I said it had to do to win. Things just aren’t looking too good.

22:36 Penn 3 NU 8

Before I can even finish writing the previous entry, Kristin Finch scores her second goal of the year for NU. This is Penn’s largest deficit faced all year. They trailed by four twice before this game. Penn coach Karin Brower calls her team’s first timeout.

22:57 Penn 3 NU 7

The nearly-unstoppable combination of Nielsen to Bowen strikes yet again, as Bowen earns the hat trick off yet another bouncing shot. Four goals is going to be a tough margin to overcome with the lack of defensive stops.

24:08 Penn 3 NU 6

Bowen shoots low and Waxman can’t get a save. It’s the Rochester, N.Y. native’s 80th goal of the year. The Wildcats refuse to let the Quakers get within one.

25:25 Penn 3 NU 5

Spiro earns a free-position shot and then scores in the top right corner.

26:08 Penn 2 NU 5

Another save by Lanthrop. She’s got my theoretical vote for MVP.

27:27 Penn 2 NU 5

A crease violation is called against NU, waving off a goal. Penn then does get a clear. About time.

28:40 Penn 2 NU 5
Bowen gets called with a charge, yet Penn can’t get the clear. Uh oh

Halftime Penn 2 NU 5

At least it’s not as bad as it was last year. In last year’s Final Four matchup Penn trailed 8-0 at the half. Well today they’re down only 5-2, and in fact they trailed the Wildcats back on April 27 when Penn eventually won. However, they were only down two at 7-5, and in fact had scored the last goal of the half. Tonight, however, Northwestern is the one with momentum at the break. Lanthrop’s save at the buzzer was critical, as it clearly gave the Wildcats some momentum.

Looking at the stat sheet, Northwestern isn’t quite as dominant as I had thought. Although they are dominating two key stats (they lead in shots 13-7 and draw controls 5-3), they have only one more groundball (7-6), and have equaled Penn in saves (5) and clears (5-7). Furthermore, they have more fouls than Penn (7-5), more turnovers (9-7) and a worse free-position shot percentage (0-1 vs 1-3). Yet the one area that they’re dominating in is time of possession. Unfortunately the NCAA does not track that stat, but I’d venture a guess that Penn has only had the ball for seven minutes out of the first 30.

What must Penn do to win? It’s pretty clear: They must win the draws and keep hammering in shots against Lanthrop. So far the junior goalkeeper has been pretty dominant, but she did give up 11 goals to Penn the first time the two teams played. And on the defensive end, Penn must be consistent at getting clears. Yes they were 5-7 in the first, but both of those bothced clears led to goals. Take those two off the board, and this game clearly could be Penn’s.

That said, Penn can’t give up all hope. In all of Penn’s close games they seem to have a poor half a great one. Considering against NU the first time they were outscored 7-5 in the first, then blanketed the Wildcats 6-0 in the second, Penn clearly could come out here and win (though I doubt they’ll shut out the Wildcats). That said, winning still will be hard. In just 30 (game) minutes we’ll know whether Penn has done this tall task.

:00 Penn 2 NU 5

Here’s another stat Penn has been poor at: groundballs. It seems that any 50-50 ball is going NU’s way, and any that Penn actually comes up with was only after Penn had dropped the ball.

Meredith Frank scores for NU, yet again pushing the NU lead to three.

Penn senior Rachel Manson is fouled as the buzzer sounds, but the refs add a second on. She gets a free position shot. Lanthrop saves it, however. She’s clearly been a top player tonight.
3:41 Penn 2 NU 4

DeLuca shoots but gets shutdown by Lanthrop.

6:08 Penn 2 NU 4
Penn causes another turnover yet can’t capitalize off of a Chelsea Kocis pass that gets broken up.

7:26 Penn 2 NU 4

Penn finally gets a shot off, as sophomore Emma Spiro gets a shot off, but it doesn’t go far, as Sara Harrington hits Spiro’s stick at the release point. After a turnover on either side Penn’s Kaitlyn Lombardo gets a free position shot from directly at the top of the eight meter crease. And she fires a great shot to the top shelf. One-third of Northwestern’s lead is cut.

11:28 Penn 1 NU 4

Penn keeps turning it over/not finishing clears. And this dooms them as Nielsen gets yet another assist by passing to Katrina Dowd. Dowd grabs the pass directly in front of Waxman and rips off a shot. And just like that Penn finds itself down by three.

13:51 Penn 1 NU 3
NU goalkeeper Morgan Lanthrop gets a nice save off an Allison Ambrozy free position shot.

16: 10 Penn 1 NU 3

Bowen gets another goal off a great pass from Nielsen. Immediately following, NU gets yet another draw. Guess what, Penn’s back on defense. They need a stop. Well they get one since there’s an offensive foul on Danielle Spencer.

18:34 Penn 1 NU 2

Nice save by Waxman. Penn’s still playing too much defense. NU’s offensive philosophy has clearly been to shield the Penn defenders by screening a lot of their top options such as Nielsen and Bowen.
20:08 Penn 1 NU 2

Bowen gets a great pass to a wide-open Meghan Plunkett who scorches it straight into the goal. Just like against Duke, Penn has let an early 1-0 lead disappear.

21:36 Penn 1 NU 1 (Media Timeout)

Goalkeeper Waxman makes a great save, but the Quakers can’t get the clear. So far in eight-plus minutes Penn has been on defense for the majority. With the potent NU offense, any more time in the Quakers’ third and the Wildcats are bound to run up the score. Penn must improve on its clears.

25:23 Penn 1 NU 1

NU’s Hilary Bowen gets a free position shot but misses. Good news for Penn, who gave up several free-position goals on Friday. But NU keeps possession. Eventually Hannah Nielsen rips a shot while sprinting around the edge of the crease to avoid Penn’s Tarah Kirnan. Sarah Waxman can’t save it, and Northwestern has now equalized the game.

28:58 left in first half Penn 1 Northwestern 0

Penn got the first draw, which clearly bodes well for this all-important stat. And after turning it over, the Quakers get it back. Sophomore Ali DeLuca sprint down the field and shoot a left-handed shot down low for the game’s opening tally.

Welcome yet again to the 2008 NCAA Division-I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament from Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md. Today’s final pits the No. 2 Penn Quakers (17-1) against the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats (20-1). In case you didn’t get a chance to do so already, you can read my preview of tonight’s game right here.

It’s been quite the journey for the women’s lacrosse team, who had a decent 10-6 record in 2006 and then made the Final Four last year with a record of 16-1 before getting demolished by the Wildcats in the national semifinal. This year saw even higher levels of success, as the squad beat the Wildcats 11-7, earned its first ever national No. 1 ranking, and made it to the National Championship game for the first time ever.

In fact they’re the first Penn team to make it to an NCAA final. So this game clearly is one of the biggest games in Penn athletics history. As such the Penn Athletics administration is in full show today. Athletic Director Steve Bilsky shared an elevator with me, even complementing the DP’s coverage of the team. And for the first time this season, all four of the Athletic Communications personnel are in attendance at a Penn sporting event. I’ve also been told that several Penn coaches are in attendance, including volleyball coach Kerry Carr, softball coach Leslie King and women’s track coach Gwen Harris, although I’ll admit I didn’t have time to look for them in the stands.

Of course Penn Athletics representatives aren’t the only ones here. There is quite a crowd, although I’d say Northwestern probably has more fans than Penn does. Even if that’s not actually true, it certainly appears so since Northwestern fans are much better at one thing than Penn: dressing in the same colors. All Northwestern fans are wearing purple, so there’s a sea of purple on one side of the field. Even though the other side of the field is clearly made up of Penn supporters, they’re not wearing a solid blue or red, so it’s not as visually impressive. Regardless, I’m sure it’ll be a loud crowd for both teams.

As I have several times this season, I’ll provide in-game updates of the match, but again I’m limited by NCAA regulations to only six times a half, plus once at halftime. Of course on Friday I was a little lax (no pun intended) about that during the game’s crazy final 10 minutes. So I’ll try to follow the rules better today. But no guarantees, NCAA Media Enforcement Bureau, or whoever it is that monitors blogs.

END OF GAME. DUKE 8 PENN 9
IT’S OVER PENN WINS!!!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY PENN IS GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. THEY’LL PLAY NORTHWESTERN ON SUNDAY FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

:42 Duke 8 Penn 9

:45 a foul is called on Duke, and Giulia Giordano has a free position. SHE PASSES IT OFF TO RACHEL MANSON WHO SCORES!

End of first OT period Duke 8 Penn 8

Waxman gets a great low save at :25, but takes the rest of OT to get it away. That’s her seventh save of the night.

END OF REGULATION Duke 8 Penn 8

Penn had the ball for the last 45 seconds, but its only shot was wide and high.

Here’s how OT works. There are two, three-minute periods. Both are played to their full length regardless of how many goals are or aren’t scored. So it is not sudden death.

I’ve seen over 20 women’s lacrosse games in my two years covering the team, and this game is without a doubt the most nerve-wracking I’ve ever watched. Regardless of the outcome it’ll be a sweet finish. (This isn’t hurt by the fact that “Baba O’Reily” is being played over the PA system.)

1:00 Duke 8 Penn 8

A delayed penalty called on Penn. On the ensuing free position shot Gilbride scores. 60 seconds will determine this final four game.

1:25 Duke 7 Penn 8

A Duke shot goes past goal. But Duke keeps possession. Davis fumbles it, but they regain possession. Kimel takes her last timeout. 85 seconds to go.

3:14 Duke 7 Penn 8

Penn turns it over. Duke will have plenty of time to tie it up.

5:40 Duke 7 Penn 8

Lehman drives down the center of the crease and scores her third of the game. Penn leads for the first time since 2:52 into the first. A stick check was called on Lehman, but the refs hold it up. Four-thirds of the Duke’s lead is cut.

6:57 Duke 7 Penn 7

A media timeout is called. Penn had lost possession of the ball and Duke started charging up the field. But Ambrozy got some payback, causing Duke’s Christina Germinario to turn it over. A foul is then called as Penn now has possession.

10:25 Duke 7 Penn 7

Chelsea Kocis takes it, shoots, but gets blocked by Imbesi. No foul called, though there was contact.

11:38 Duke 7 Penn 7

An Ambrozy shot goes wide. But soon after sophomore Ali DeLuca takes a low-angle shot, tying the game up. Three-thirds of Duke’s lead is cut. Kimel calls her team’s second of three timeouts.

12:56 Duke 7 Penn 6

On the ensuing draw control Ambrozy gets the draw. Penn’s back on offense, taking its time despite the deficit. Lombardo takes another shot, but it’s off the crossbar. Later on Melissa Lehman takes a bounce shot and it hits the back of the net. Two-thirds of the Duke’s lead is cut.

A media timeout is called.

15:08 Duke 7 Penn 5

Kaitlyn Lombardo takes a Giordano pass and rips it into the goal. One-third of Duke’s lead is cut.

18:05 Duke 7 Penn 4

Davis drives around the lower left side of the field, beats her defender, and gets her fifth goal of the game. Yes there’s plenty of time left, but Duke then gets the draw control. Things just aren’t looking good for Penn.

19:34 Duke 6 Penn 4.

Waxman gets a few saves, yet bobbles all of them as she just couldn’t get possession of the ball. The All-Ivy selection just isn’t looking too sharp today. A media timeout is called, which has to be a relief to these Quakers. They haven’t come out looking to hot here, and Duke has been dominating possession this half. The Quakers must get a stop.

22:34 Duke 6 Penn 4
The refs call yet another foul against Penn. Of the free position shot, Davis scores her fourth of the night, her 60th of the season. Brower takes a timeout.

The foul disparity has now reached 14-5 in Duke’s favor.

23:09 Duke 5 Penn 4
Katie Mazer gets a yellow card and must sit for the next three minutes. However Penn can sub.

25:00 Duke 5 Penn 4

Duke scores, as Davis gets another goal — her third — despite the ball trickling past Sarah Waxman. For a second the refs discussed whether it was a legal goal, but they did allow it.

26:03 Duke 4 Penn 4

Giordano scores off a pass from senior Chelsea Kocis. It’s her 20th of the year. It’s the first goal since 18:54 left in the first.

28:16 Duke 4 Penn 3

Great kick save by Imbesi of senior Allison Ambrozy.

HALFTIME: DUKE 4 PENN 3

Well for only the third time this year Penn find itself down going into the second. So far the Quakers are 2-1 in such situations, overcoming a 4-2 deficit at Cornell to win 7-6 and a 7-5 disadvantage to beat Northwestern 11-7. They couldn’t surpass Stanford’s 5-2 halftime lead, falling 10-8. So for them to come back down one at the break is certainly not unthinkable.

But for them to do so they must do a better job containing the Duke offense. Yes they’ve only given up four goals. But considering they average only six goals allowed, they’re not doing as great of a job as they normally do on the defensive end. They gave up 10 shots, while only getting eight of their own. This includes letting Duke go 2-3 on free position shots. In return the Quakers are getting frustrated, as they’ve committed nine fouls vs. Duke’s three. Finally, I know Coach Karin Brower always stresses draw controls. So she’s clearly not happy her squad has been outdrawn 5-3.

This first five minutes of the second could make or break the game. If Penn comes out strong and scores a few quick goals, they might not relinquish the lead again. But if they come out uninspired and Duke scores first, this Penn squad better shape up quickly, or else they’ll see another great season come to a bitter close. In 30 (game) minutes we’ll find out which scenario it is. Stick around.

0:00 Duke 4 Penn 3.

Right at the buzzer Waxman makes a great save off a Jess Adams shot preventing the Blue Devils from increasing their lead. Maybe the Quakers can use this to get some momentum, as they’ll need to come back in the second if they want to advance to the National Championship game Sunday.

1:52 Duke 4 Penn3

Great save by Imbesi on a Manson shot.

4:28 Duke 4 Penn 3

Kaitlyn Lombardo gets decked by two Duke players. But on the free position she runs away from goal.

6:01 Duke 4 Penn 3

Great save by Waxman, although she doesn’t maintain possession. But Penn gets the groundball.

12:06 Duke 4 Penn 3

Senior Melissa Lehman scores off of a scorcher from about eight feet out. Penn’s now within one.

13:55 Duke 4 Penn 2

Waxman gets a key save, maybe getting back some confidence after giving up four early goals.

15:20 Duke 4 Penn 2

Off a free position shot Duke’s Lindsay Gilbride gets her 38th goal of the year. Penn’s strategy of holding onto the ball for as long as possible to get the best possible shot might backfire if they fall behind by too much more. They need to get a stop right here.

17:30 Duke 3 Penn 2

After a timeout, Penn clears, then holds onto the ball for a solid few minutes. This has been Penn’s standard attack: slow and deliberate offense. Penn finally gets off some shots, but freshman Giulia Giordano is stopped by Duke goalie Kim Imbesi twice.

23:31 Duke 3 Penn 2

Yet another goal by Davis, this time a low-angle shot, one that Penn goalkeeper Sarah Waxman seemed surprise she even took.

25:17 Duke 2 Penn 2

Sophomore Emma Spiro gets an unassisted goal to tie it back up.

26:26 Duke 2 Penn 1

Penn’s Ali DeLuca gets beat by Sarah Bullard, giving the Blue Devils their first lead of the game.

27:18 Penn 1 Duke 1

Carolyn Davis gets a goal off of a free position shot after Penn senior Tarah Kirnan fouls her. The game is all square at one.

29:00 left in the first half Penn 1 Duke 0.

The Quakers win the opening draw, and set up their deliberate offense. And at 29:00 mark senior Rachel Manson scores the first goal of the game. Senior Allison Ambrozy earns the assist.

Welcome back to the second leg of the Final Four from Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University, as No. 2 Penn (16-1) takes on unseeded Duke (13-7). The winner will get Northwestern, who dominated Syracuse 16-8, including scoring nine unanswered in the second half. (When asked in the postgame press conference “what if it’s Penn?” in the National Championship game, NU coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller refused to answer the question.)

Penn, as the higher seed is wearing its home whites, and Duke is wearing a mix of its black and blue. Unfortunately, I’m limited on how often I can post Buzz updates, so I’ll only post every five minutes give or take.

Final Northwestern 16 Syracuse 8

The Wildcats dominated the second half, scoring nine straight before Syracuse got two late goals. If it’s any solace, the Orange did do better than their previous game against Northwestern, when they lost 19-7.

7:37 left: Northwestern 15 Syracuse 6.

In some ways you could say this is the opposite of NU’s Final Four game last year. In that game they outscored Penn 8-0 in the first half, and 4-2 in the second. Today they went up 7-6 vs. the Orange at half, but have now gone on an incredible 8-0 run to pretty much clinch a spot in Sunday’s national championship game.

There is a plane flying above Johnny Unitas Stadium that has a message attached to its tail: “DUKE WLAX NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE IN!” Certain words come to mind, but I don’t think I can post them on this blog.

Halftime of the NU-SU semifinal: Northwestern 7 Syracuse 6

This game has been pretty back and forth. It appeared Northwestern had seized the momentum in the last few minutes as it went up by two, but Syracuse junior Megan Mosenson scored a great goal right as she was hit with 1:53 left.

Looking around the stadium, the south half of the stands are near capacity, with the majority of them Northwestern fans. However, the north side of the stadium is only about half-filled, including the Syracuse fan section. Overall I’d say there’s a smaller crowd then there was for last year’s Final Four hosted at Franklin Field.

If you’re into fight songs/college athletics atmosphere, you’d be happy. Despite none of the bands showing up, the PA system does play the scoring school’s fight song after every goal.

Welcome to Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., for the Final Four of the Division I Women’s Lacrosse NCAA tournament. No. 2 Penn (16-1) will play unseeded Duke (13-7) in the second semifinal tonight at 8:30 p.m. Right now No.1 Northwestern (19-1) is playing No. 5 Syracuse (18-2) in the first semifinal of the night, a matchup that pits the first- and third-ranked offenses in the nation.

That game started off to a blistering start, as two goals were scored in the first 2:30 minutes. However the next 15 minutes only saw two goals total. After that the scoring picked back up, and now the score stands at 5-4 Orange with 7:43 to go. Northwestern clearly isn’t going to coast to its fourth straight National Championship.

FINAL PENN 16 COLGATE 7

Even though Colgate scored the last goal, the Quakers are the one advancing. Next Saturday the Quakers will face Boston University although the game will be held at Drexel’s stadium due to graduation festivities at Franklin Field.

A full recap will appear later today on the Buzz.

1:03 Penn 16 Colgate 7

Colgate still isn’t giving up, as they now have a higher total than Penn’s average goals allowed per game (6.00).

1:32 Penn 16 Colgate 6

Seaman gets her second off of classmate Meg Smith’s pass. The goal now makes this game Penn’s highest scoring of the season.

3:04 Penn 15 Colgate 6

With the game well in hand, the Quakers are subbing out most of their starters and giving some valuable tournament experience to the underclassmen. However, this lack of the Quakers’ top tier talent leads to a Colgate goal.

10:50 Penn 15 Colgate 5

Penn reextends its lead to 10, causing the clock to keep running due to the mercy rule, as Spiro gets her second goal of the game.

16:54 Penn 14 Colgate 5
Colgate finally answers back, as Colleen Bubnack gets her second of the game.

18:00 Penn 14 Colgate 4

DeLuca get a crisp pass from junior Hannah Rudloff and the sophomore earns her third goal of the game.
20:18 Penn 13 Colgate 4

Less than a minute later sophomore Barb Seaman off of sophomore Courtney Lube’s pass streaks into the crease and fires a shot past Drexler.

20:51 Penn 12 Colgate 4

Spiro gets fouled and then on the ensuing free position shot nails in a goal. Penn also scored around the 22 minute mark.

HALFTIME

The Quakers were definitely in control in the first half, although when Colgate had the ball they did pretty well. In fact, Waxman only got two saves, whereas Drexler got six. Although of course Waxman has let up four goals vs ten.

And the winner of this game will get Boston University. The Terriers beat New Hampshire 16-8. Looking at the other scores, No. 3 Maryland is leading Temple 8-5 at half. North Carolina is half way to an upset, leading No. 4 Virginia 6-3. And finally No. 8 Princeton is tied at six with Vanderbilt.

The crowd here at Franklin Field isn’t as large as it has been this year, as the Northwestern game clearly had a larger and more vocal crowd. In fact the Penn parents, normally quite vocal aren’t too loud today. Maybe that’s because their vocal and emotional leader, Mrs. Kym the security guard only just appeared.

Despite the slightly smaller numbers, there are a couple of Penn Athletics “bigshots” in attendance, including AD Steve Bilsky and women’s basketball coach Pat Knapp. However they’re not sitting next to each other. Interesting…

0:00 Penn 10 Colgate 4

Colgate got a couple of late chances to cut the lead down, but Penn goalkeeper Sarah Waxman made two key saves.

1:20 Penn 10 Colgate 4

Ambrozy gets her first goal of the game as Manson increases her point total with an assist.

7:09 Penn 9 Colgate 4
Penn’s four-goal run ends with Molly Carroll’s first goal for the Raiders.
8:06 Penn 9 Colgate 3

Lehman gets a nice pass from Giordano and rips off a shot. Colgate goalkeeper Sara Drexler knocks it down, but it still trickles into the goal.

12:04 Penn 8 Colgate 3

The Quakers keep increasing its lead off a free position goal by DeLuca. She had picked off a pass around midfield, sprinted to the Raiders’ goal, yet got fouled before she could shoot.

14:22 Penn 7 Colgate 3

Penn takes a four goal lead after some crisp passing from senior Chelsea Kocis allowed Manson to rip a shot to the upper left corner for a hat trick.

17: 25 Penn 6 Colgate 3

But just as Colgate refuses to go away, Penn refuses to let them come back. Freshman Giordano makes sure of that by getting a feed from sophomore Emma Spiro. It came after a Kaitlyn Lombardo shot ricocheted off the post.

20:10 Penn 5 Colgate 3

Colgate gets another tally, as they refuse to be put away. I should add that there is a sizable Colgate crowd here today, many of whom are more vocal than the Penn supporters.

22:24 Penn 5 Colgate 2

Penn increases its lead back to three off of Manson’s second goal.

24:01 Penn 4 Colgate 2

Another minute goes by and Colgate gets its second of the game. Clearly this is going to be a high scoring affair.

25:02 Penn 4 Colgate 1

Penn rebounds from the Colgate goal with a tally of its own from sophomore Ali DeLuca.

26:13 Penn 3 Colgate 1

But then 18 seconds later Colgate takes the ball off the draw, drives down field and scores its first goal. Clearly when the Raiders have the ball they’re still potent.

26:31 Penn 3 Colgate 0

Then thirty seconds later senior Melissa Lehman gets a feed of off classmate Manson and the Quakers are up by three still earlier.

27:00 Penn 2 Colgate 0

Freshman Guilia Giordano gets a feed off of senior Allison Ambrozy for the Quakers’ second goal

First Half 29:30 left Penn 1 Colgate 0

And just like that Penn is already in the lead. The Quakers took the opening draw, and after almost losing possession senior Rachel Manson got the ball, cut across the crease from the left side and ripped a shot that gave the Quakers quite the early lead.

Welcome to Franklin Field on this gray May day. The Colgate Raiders (11-9) come to town to take on the No. 2 seed Quakers (14-1, 7-0 Ivy League) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I’ll be providing game updates, although as this is an NCAA championship event I’m limited on how often I can blog. So I’ll post my updates roughly every five minutes (written in bold) even though I’ll give the time designation for all the goals.

The Raiders come into this matchup on a four game winning streak, including wins over American to win the Patriot League championship and over MAAC champion Marist in the NCAA play-in game.

The Quakers meanwhile, are on the nation’s second longest win streak at 12 games, having gone undefeated since a March 9 loss@ Stanford. During the streak the Quakers rose to No. 1 in the nation after beating then-undefeated No. 1 Northwestern.

The winner of this game will get the winner of No. 7 Boston University (who owns the nation’s longest win streak) and New Hampshire.

FINAL PENN 15 TEMPLE 2

That was the most dominating game I’ve seen in my two years of covering Penn Women’s Lacrosse. I’ll throw up the postgame quotes later.

2:22 Penn 15 Temple 2

Sophomore Megan Smith gets her first goal of the year.

3:55 Penn 14 Temple 2

Temple scores again. As a friend of mine just mentioned, this is similar to Penn’s loss to Northwestern last year in the final four when they lost 12-2. NU just came out swinging and never looked behind, leading 8-0 at the break. In the sceond they did give up two goals, but they always looked in charge.

8:07 Penn 14 Temple 1

Rudloff scores off a Lombardo pass, although it was an ugly goal that only trickled in.

13:13 Penn 13 Temple 1

Junior Samantha Bird gets her second goal of the year off a Lehman assist.

18:36 Penn 12 Temple 1

Warren gets her second goal, this one off a free position shot. Manson almost got her fifth assist, but it was waved off since the penalty was called before the goal was scored.

20:45 Penn 11 Temple 1

Speaking of Szelest, the first shot she faces go past her to the lower left, as Temple is finally off the board. The scoreless streak is stopped at an astonishing 69:15.

24:52 Penn 11 Temple 0

Sophomore Bethany Warren scores off a Manson pass after the senior streaked down about 50 yards. That’s now Manson’s sixth point as she has four assists and two goals. Aftewards coach Karin Brower takes her out. Has she played her last regular season minutes? Also, Waxman was taken out during that stretch, and replaced by sophomore Emily Szelest.

Halftime Penn 10 Temple 0

The half ends with Penn dominating, scoring .07 below its season average and shutting out the Owls. With the shutout half, Penn has now gone an incredible 62:35 without giving up a goal. That’s more than an entire game!

During the half a friend of mine was in the men’s room and heard the following conversation from two Temple fans:

-”Rough Game”

-”I didn’t think it would be so bad”

-”Well they’re not No. 1 for nothing”

2:19 Penn 10 Temple 0

Well I guess DeLuca liked scoring instead of assisting. She got her second goal of the game off an assist from Manson. With its next goal Penn will have passed its scoring average for the year.

3:44 Penn 9 Temple 0

DeLuca gets her first goal of the game in addition to her two assists.

8:42 Penn 8 Temple 0

Senior Allison Ambrozy off a junior Hannah Rudloff assist gives Penn its eighth unanswered goal, causing Temple coach Bonnie Rosen to sub in the backup goalie.

13:15 Penn 7 Temple 0

Sophomore Courtney Lube has scored two goals over the last seven minutes. A temple shot did go off the crossbar.

20:00 Penn 5 Temple 0

Sophomore Barb Seaman scores off a Manson assist. Although in the last four minutes Temple did get off their first couple of shots, all saves by goalkeeper Waxman or widely off target.

Lube from Manson

23:59 Penn 4 Temple 0
Manson scores, taking the lead over Lehman, this time with an assist from fellow senior Chelsea Kocis. Temple takes a timeout as their save percentage is still 0%.

25:35 Penn 3 Temple 0

Two different people get in yet again, as freshman Giulia Giordano keeps her hot streak going off a pass from junior Kaitlyn Lombardo. It’s now been three shots, three goals for the Quakers, and 0/0 for Temple.

26:28 Penn 2 Temple 0

And before I finished that last update Penn had scored yet again off senior Rachel Manson’s 26th goal with an assist to sophomore Ali DeLuca. Maybe Manson and Lehman will trade off goals to see who’ll lead the team in goals.

28:42 First Half Penn 1 Temple 0

Before I even finished typing the introduction, Penn had already scored off of senior Melissa Lehman’s team-leading 26th goal.

Welcome once again to Franklin Field for the Women’s Lacrosse team’s last regular season game, a non-conference tilt against 13-5 Temple. The No. 1 Quakers (13-1, 7-0 Ivy) are definitely the favorite in the this game, but Temple is no slouch, having won the A-10 Conference tournament, and the automatic bid to the NCAAs that comes with it. Nonetheless, this game is less important than either the win over then No. 1 Northwestern last Sunday, or the win at then No. 2 Princeton in mid April, so I probably won’t update as often as I did for those games. Nonetheless enjoy.

Welcome to Franklin Field where the No. 5 Quakers (12-1, 7-0 Ivy) will take on undefeated No. 1 Northwestern (15-0).

1st Half 23:51 Northwestern 1 Penn 0

The first six minutes are pretty even, but nine seconds into the seventh minute NU’s Meredith Frank gets an unassisted goal. just over

21:53 NU 1 Penn1

Penn ties it up with a shot by freshman Giulia Giordano. It came after a Rachel Manson pass.

21:44 NU 2 Penn 1

But literally 10 seconds later Northwestern goes the length of the field off the draw control and gets its second goal of the year.

18:04 NU 3 Penn 1
Northwestern works the ball around behind the net, and a quick pass from Hannah Nielsen sets up Frank for her second goal of the game.

16:38 NU 3 Penn 2

After Penn finally gets the ball back in NU territory, a few long range passes leads to a Courtney Lube goal off a sharp Kaitlyn Lombardo feed to right in front of the goal.

12:30 NU 3 Penn 2

Not much has happened since the last goal, although Penn’s Sarah Waxman made a couple of nice saves, including one on her knees.

The crowd is pretty big, I would say the largest women’s lacrosse game turnout I’ve seen save the final four. I’d say upwards of 1,000. I guess Penn athletics’ bobblehead promotion worked. Included in the crowd is the Penn Band, making its second W. Lax appearance this year.

Surprisingly there’s a lot of NU fans. Whether bandwagon or actual Wildcat fans it’s hard to tell, but they do have a handful of players from the Md-NY corridor, so it’s not inconceivable some parents would make the trek to West Philly.

10:46 NU 3 Penn 3

A crisp, sharp pass from Lombardo right to the center of the crease (just like the last one) gives senior Rachel Manson the Quakers’ tying goal. So far the biggest positive has been Lombardo’s passes.

9:52 NU 4 Penn 3

Off a free position shot Alex Bowen drives to the goal, feigns running past it, turns around and puts the Wildcats back on top.

9:17 NU 4 Penn 4

Off a free position shot senior Melissa Lehman rips a shot from pretty far out that goes straight to the upper right corner of the goal. And we have another tied game. Let’s see if Penn can finally take a lead.

7:04 NU 4 Penn 4

Yet again Lombardo has a crisp pass to the middle, but the ensuing shot is saved by NU goalkeeper Morgan Lathrop, leading one fan to say “Now that’s a save!”

6:15 NU 5 Penn 4

Northwestern gets yet another goal Frank off a Nielsen assist.

4:30 NU 6 Penn 4

Bowen gets her second goal, after running around the front of the Quakers D and ripping a shot to the upper left corner. NU was very patient on that possession, passing the ball around several times before Bowen’s run in front of the goal.

2:37 NU 7 Penn 4

Penn gets a penalty for decking a Wildcat player right before she’d shoot. On the ensuing free position shot Bowen wings a hard shot right at the goal, and Waxman is unable to save it. Ok I’ll take responsibility for jinxing the Quakers after saying “let’s see if Penn can finally take a lead” when it was 4-4

Something finally goes right for Penn, as Waxman gets a high save. Penn’s charging down the field and with :37 left gets its fifth goal of the game, this time from Lombardo off a Manson assist.

0:00 NU 7 Penn 5

With zeros showing on the clock, the refs huddle to see if there was a foul before the clock expired. They put a second back give a free position shot to NU who then proceeds to… get saved by Waxman.

Well this half was significantly better than either of the ones against NU last year. In the first game, at Evanston, Ill,, March 9, the Quakers were down 6-3 and even worse, it was 8-0 at the break in the last year’s final four at Franklin Field. The number one thing Penn has to do is keep up the offense. While they were able to hang with NU for most of the half, they couldn’t string enough goals together to take the lead. While keeping up the Wildcats certainly is an improvement from last year, they need to do more if they want to finally beat NU for the first time in five tries.

Penn athletics has really gone all out today. The jumbotron on the west scoreboard actually has video (first regular season Lax game I’ve seen that at). They also actually had some halftime entertainment other than the Penn Band as two teams of young girls played lacrosse on the field.

Second half 29:17 NU 7 Penn 5
Melissa Lehman goes the length of the field, but her one-on-one shot hits the crossbar. Manson recovers and Penn’s still on the offensive.

28:32 NU 7 Penn 6

Less than a minute later on the same possession Allison Ambrozy takes a pass and wings it into the goal. And Penn is within one.

27:19 NU 7 Penn 7

A Giordano shot is nicely saved by Lanthrop at 27:39 , but less than 30 seconds later senior Chelsea Kocis ties it up with a goal at 27:19.

26:29 NU 7 Penn 8

Giordano gets her second goal and Penn is leading Northwestern for the first time since their lone win against the Wildcats in 2003.

24:00 NU 7 Penn 9

Kocis scores yet again, this time off a free position shot, and Penn is up by two. I’m surprised NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller hasn’t taken one of her two timeouts. I know if I was the University of Maryland grad I certainly would take one to stop the Quakers’ increasing momentum and confidence.

21:54 NU 7 Penn 10

In this recent stretch NU has been fouling a lot, clearly a sign the players are frustrated. Well it doesn’t help them, as Giordano sprints around the goal and rips a shot from an awkward angle into the net. Her hat trick goal gives Penn a three goal lead.

This ties NU’s largest deficit of the season, although the other two times they were down by three was either at halftime or in the first. The 10 goals are tied for the fourth highest total the Wildcats have given up this year.

12:36 NU 7 Penn 10

Waxman gets a nice save, just the second shot of the half for NU. And in honor of Waxman the Penn Band is singing a version of “Dayman” from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with the lyrics: “Waxman. Fighter of Northwestern. Keeper of the goal.”

The Quakers are being uber patient on offense, trying to waste as much clock as possible. Penn’s Tarah Kirnan gets a key groundball after Penn almost gives up a turnover.

7:51 NU 7 Penn 11

Ambrozy shoots high, and it gets saved, but she after it gets knocked around it goes in. Maybe I saw it wrong though, since Manson is given an assist.

6:00 NU 7 Penn 11

A Kocis shot hits the post.

4:42 NU 7 Penn 11

NU misses a free position shot, leading to the same fan who shouted “now that’s a save” to say “Oh My God!”

0:00 NU 7 Penn 11

Well Penn has done it. They’ve beaten the formerly undefeated, three-time national Champion Northwestern Wildcats of 36 game wining streak fame, and a 92-5 record over four plus seasons. This has got to be the Penn athletics highlight of the year so far.

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.

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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.

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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.