ATLANTIC CITY - The Temple men's basketball team was doing the football equivalent of taking a knee Friday at Boardwalk Hall.

With a 69-51 victory at hand, the Owls were just milking the clock in an Atlantic Ten Conference tournament quarterfinal against St. Bonaventure. They even had a couple of shot-clock violations during the last few minutes that Temple coach Fran Dunphy didn't mind one bit.

After leading by 12 at halftime, the Owls went into the last eight minutes with a 20-point lead and didn't allow St. Bonaventure to get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

"We got a nice lead, and wanted to take care of the ball, and we didn't want to throw it away," Dunphy said. "We want to get good shots. There were a couple of end-of-shot clocks we didn't finish, and a couple of others that were just a tad late. I always tell our guys, just don't force anything at the end of the shot clock. If the shot clock runs out, we can set our defense. What I don't want is somebody throwing something less than stellar up there, and they go down and get an easy shot."

In winning its eighth straight game and ending the season of a Bonnies squad (15-16) that entered the contest having won five of their last six, Temple, the two-time and defending champions of the A-10 tournament, improved to 27-5. In a semifinal Saturday at 1 p.m., the Owls will meet Rhode Island, a 63-47 winner over St. Louis on Friday.

On a day Temple shot 52.6 percent from the floor, the Owls received a 17-point, seven-assist performance from sophomore guard Juan Fernandez. Lavoy Allen, the Owls' 6-foot-9 forward came up with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks, and 6-11 center Micheal Eric contributed 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

"I thought we played very well to be honest with you," said Dunphy, who was pleased with his team's second-half defense. "I thought we got off to a very good start. We think everybody gave a pretty solid effort, and we had a good shooting night."

Temple's first-half performance - St. Bonaventure was down by 16 points with 11 minutes, 4 seconds left - was sparked by the Owls' superior passing. They had 10 assists before the 11-minute mark as all five starters played without relief from their reserves. By the time Dunphy inserted swingman Ramone Moore and forward Rahlir Jefferson, St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt had used nine different players.

It was to no avail for the Bonnies. They trailed, 26-12, with under nine minutes remaining in the first half.

Fernandez had opened 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. After falling hard to the floor and getting no call while trying to draw a charge on Bonnies guard Demetrius Conger, the 6-4 sophomore got up and went down the other end for a trey from the left corner that put Temple up by 12.

Except for a lull that allowed St. Bonaventure to pull to 28-21 with 5:04 remaining before the break, Temple stayed in command and led, 39-27, at intermission.

Fernandez had 12 points, and Allen and Eric collected 10 each as the Owls had 24 points in the paint.

"I just made shots and that happens sometimes," said Fernandez, who had 12 points on 3-for-4 three-point shooting during the first half. "Most of the time, we start the game going down low, but today, it was the three-point shot that got us started. That allowed us to find our offense really quickly. We moved the ball pretty well and took what they gave us. This team, this year, has got a lot of options on offense, and we're doing a good job of finding it."

Notes. Temple had just seven turnovers, and three of them were charged to the team. . . . The Owls held St. Bonaventure to 28 percent shooting in the second half. . . . Temple had 30 baskets and 18 assists. . . . Fernandez did not have a turnover. . . . St. Bonaventure had three double-figures scorers in forward Andrew Nicholson (13 points), and guards Ogo Adegboye (10) and Conger. . . . Malcolm Eleby, a 6-3 junior from Franklin Learning Center, started for St. Bonaventure but did not score. Leonard Lewis (Frankford), a 6-4 junior guard, and 6-10 freshman Brett Roseboro (Quakertown) also suited up for the Bonnies.