Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

O&N HOME | NFL MLB NBA NHL NCAAF NCAABk Nascar Golf Soccer Tennis Boxing Horse Racing All Sports

Owls top Bonnies to start quest for A-10 three-peat

Fri 12th, March 2010

Atlantic City, NJ (Sports Network) - Juan Fernandez scored 17 points and doled out seven assists, as No. 17 Temple advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a solid 69-51 victory against St. Bonaventure at Boardwalk Hall.

Lavoy Allen registered his 13th double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the top-seeded Owls (27-5), who are aiming to become just the second program in A-10 history to string together three straight conference tournament titles.

Micheal Eric added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Temple will match up against Rhode Island in the semis after its 63-47 win over Saint Louis.

"I thought we played very well, to be honest with you. I thought our defense was pretty good, in particular, in the second half we threw up some good defensive numbers. I thought we got off to a very good start. I thought Juan got us out of the gate well," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy.

Andrew Nicholson paced the Bonnies (15-16) with 13 points and seven boards. Ogo Adegboye and Demetrius Conger scored 10 apiece in the loss.

St. Bonaventure was seeded eighth and knocked off the No. 9 seed Duquesne in the opening round Tuesday.

Temple used an early 7-0 spurt to open up a 12-4 lead a little more than five minutes in after Allen followed a Fernandez three-pointer with a layup.

Fernandez drained another three to counter a Conger basket moments later to begin a stretch of 10 straight points for the Owls. Allen capped things with back-to-back layups for a 24-8 difference nearing 11 minutes left.

"They have a good inside-outside game. When Allen is playing the way he played today, it's hard. Fernandez has a great IQ for the game, when he is shooting the ball like he did today. I think they have great role guys, not just Allen and Fernandez," said St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt.

Chris Matthews and Nicholson knocked down consecutive three-pointers with close to 5 1/2 minutes remaining to draw the Bonnies within seven, 28-21.

The Owls, though, gained some separation before halftime and Allen's jumper dropped for a 39-27 game at the break.

Fernandez buried yet another shot from beyond the arc to open the second half and a Ryan Brooks three-ball less than five minutes in made it 48-29.

Temple continued to pull away and built its lead to 20 on an Allen dunk nearing 12 minutes to go. Things were all but decided by the time Ramon Moore put in back-to-back layups for a 66-43 margin with the clock showing 3 1/2 minutes.

The Bonnies were done in by a 28-percent shooting performance in the second half, while Temple was able to pull away behind a 56.5-percent showing from the floor over the same period.

Game Notes

Fernandez finished 4-of-5 from three-point range...Brooks and Moore each had eight points...The Owls shot 52.6 percent for the game...St. Bonaventure connected on just 35.8 percent of its shots.....UMass previously won five consecutive A-10 tournament titles during the 1990s...The Owls are riding an eight-game win streak and have more tourney crowns (eight) than any other A-10 program...Temple outscored St. Bonaventure 40-24 in the paint.