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Temple crushes Rhode Island in A-10 semis

Sat 13th, March 2010

Atlantic City, NJ (Sports Network) - Ryan Brooks scored 16 points as 17th- ranked Temple cruised past Rhode Island, 57-44, in an Atlantic 10 semifinal.

Juan Fernandez added 14 points and dished out seven assists while Lavoy Allen had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Owls (28-5), who advance to face Richmond in Sunday's final and have a chance to claim their third straight conference crown. The Spiders were one of only two conference squads to upend the Owls this season, beating them 71-54 in Richmond.

"We try to take it one game at a time," Brooks said. "We just want to keep winning and try to advance further and further into each tournament as we can."

Keith Cothran had 11 points and three steals for the Rams (23-9), who had beaten Saint Joseph's and Saint Louis in the tourney and whose prospects for the NCAA Tournament have diminished somewhat.

Delroy James and Will Martell each added nine points in defeat.

Temple scored the first seven points of the contest, and it was 11-2 after a Fernandez bucket a little more than five minutes in.

Brooks hit a three for an 18-7 game with over nine minutes played, then his shot from the right corner gave Temple a 24-12 cushion with 6:55 left in the half.

Brooks also contributed the final two buckets of the half, and the Owls led 34-17 at the break.

A 7-1 run to start the second half had Temple ahead 41-18, before a brief URI run closed the gap to 46-31 on a Martell dunk with 9:47 to play.

Brooks then hit a pair from the line and Jefferson connected on 1-of-2 for an 18-point game with 7:33 left, and Temple led by a comfortable double-digit margin the rest of the way.

"It was real tough. They are a solid team, and are a well rounded team. We came out flat and didnt match their intensity," Cothran admitted.

Game Notes

Temple has won 54 of the 69 all-time meetings, including all three this season...The contest was delayed for almost 10 minutes early in the first half after water began to pool near midcourt...The Owls improved to 51-19 in the A-10 tourney.