IS LIVE CHATTING EAGLES-BEARS
ATLANTIC CITY – Temple’s Dionte Christmas scored 10 of his team’s final 11 points to lead the Owls to a 55-53 upset win over top-seeded Xavier in a semifinal game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
With the Owls trailing by 47-44, Christmas made a jumper a foul shot and a three-pointer during a 7-0 run that gave the Owls a 51-47 lead with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining.
After two free throws by B.J. Raymond cut it to two, Christmas again drained a trey, this one from the left wing, for a 54-49 lead.
From there, the Owls closed it out and now will look for their second straight Atlantic 10 tournament title and the automatic NCAA Tournament game that comes with it. No team has repeated as the A-10 tourney champion since Temple did it in the 2000 and '01 seasons.
Temple awaits the winner of the Duquesne/Dayton game.
Christmas led the fourth-seeded Owls (21-11) with 20 points, while Lavoy Allen added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Derrick Brown led the 19th-ranked Musketeers (25-7) with 19 points and Raymond added 18.
“Obviously Dionte hit some huge shots,” said Temple coach Fran Dunphy. “Everybody had to play well for us in order to win the game."
Christmas was 1-for-10 from the field and scored only seven points in the Owls' semifinal win over Saint Joseph's on Thursday.
Xavier will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
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FRAN DUNPHY, Temple
He begins his third season on North Broad with nearly 350 career victories after a long tenure at Penn. The Owls won the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
BRUISER FLINT, Drexel
He begins his eighth season with the Dragons after returning to the city where he played collegiately at St. Joe’s. The Dragons have advanced to the postseason in four of the last six years and have won at least 17 games four times under Flint.
DR. JOHN GIANNINI, La Salle
He begins his fifth season at the school after successful tenures at the University of Maine and Rowan, where teams made two trips to the Division III Final Four. At LaSalle two seasons ago, he engineered an 18-win season and third-place finish in the Atlantic 10, the school’s best finish since joining the league for the 1995-96 season.
PHIL MARTELLI, Saint Joseph’s
He begins his 14th season on Hawk Hill, having won more than 250 games. He is a four-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and has taken the Hawks to the postseason in seven of the last eight years.
GLEN MILLER, Penn
He begins his third season at the school after moving within the Ivy League from Brown. In his first season, he led the Quakers to an Ivy League championship and their third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
JAY WRIGHT, Villanova
He begins his eighth season at ‘Nova, having amassed 148 wins at the school. Villanova has made the NCAA Tournament for the last four seasons, including three trips to the Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight appearance. Wright came to Villanova following his tenure at Hofstra and has 270 career victories.
