THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
Hello, bye.
Temple clinched that ever-important first-round bye in the Atlantic Ten tournament tonight with a 68-59 victory over rival St. Joseph's at the Liacouras Center.
Three seniors paced the Owls on the night of their last regular-season home game. Guard Dionte Christmas had a team-high 23 points. Center Sergio Olmos had his best game in weeks, tallying 14 points to go with six rebounds. And guard Semaj Inge chipped in with nine points, all of them in the first half.
The Hawks were also vying for that coveted bye. If they had beaten Temple and then Fordham tomorrow, it would have been theirs. Now they have to settle for playing a first-round tournament game Wednesday in Atlantic City.
Temple (18-11 overall, 10-5 A-10) could still finish in third place if Dayton, playing Xavier tonight, loses its final two games. The Owls also moved to 2-2 in the Big Five. St. Joe's fell to 15-14, 8-7 and 1-3 in the city series.
Tasheed Carr paced the Hawks with 22 points. Forward Ahmad Nivins added 17 points and 16 rebounds.
The Owls have beaten the Hawks four straight times. Temple edged St. Joe's, 61-59, earlier this season. That one turned into a nail-biter when the Owls faltered at the line down the stretch. This time, they were much better, converting 11 of their final 13 free throws.
The Owls scored the first four points of the second half, but the Hawks struck back and reeled off nine in a row. A Nivins breakaway dunk trimmed the deficit to 34-32 with 14 minutes, 44 seconds to go. Minutes earlier, he recorded his 20th double-double this season.
Temple rebounded with a spurt of its own, netting 13 straight to expand the lead to 47-32 with 10:59 left. Craig Williams, substituting for the foul-prone Lavoy Allen, sank two three-pointers during the run.
A 7-0 Hawks run narrowed the margin to 52-45, but Christmas dished an assist to Olmos, then stole the inbounds pass and nailed a trey to put Temple comfortably ahead, 57-45, with 3:49 remaining.
Temple's three seniors were honored before the game and repaid the 9,000-plus on hand by accounting for 25 of the Owls' 30 first-half points. Christmas led the way with 11, followed by Inge (nine) and Olmos (five).
Christmas picked a good time to get out of a funk. The senior has struggled from beyond the arc, but he found his mid-range game and scored nine straight as Temple went on an 11-2 run to close the half with a 30-23 lead.
The Owls finished the half by outscoring St. Joe's, 20-6. The Hawks jumped out to a 17-10 lead behind Carr, who hit two early treys. But when Juan Fernandez was inserted at the point, Temple took on a different look. The freshman had three assists in 13 first-half minutes as Fran Dunphy employed, for the most part, a four-guard lineup.
The Owls' coach went small mostly out of necessity. Allen picked up two fouls seven minutes in and sat for the rest of the half. St. Joe's, meanwhile, was battling its own foul woes. Garrett Williamson and Idris Hilliard each drew two fouls and played limited minutes.
Contact staff writer Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745 or jmclane@phillynews.com.
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