No Jameer Nelson? No problem.
One year following Saint Joseph's undefeated season, the Hawks proved they could finish first in their conference again, without an All-American.
In a game that counted in the Big 5 standings, St. Joseph's completed a season sweep over Temple with a hard-fought 63-56 victory at a tension-filled Liacouras Center.
The loss will keep the Owls' (13-11, 2-1 Big 5, 9-4 Atlantic 10) from clinching the Big 5 title outright. At 3-1, Villanova gets a share of the title, but Temple can match the Wildcats with a win over La Salle on March 5.
Led by expert ball movement and strong interior defense, the Hawks (15-9, 2-2, 12-1) clinched the Atlantic 10 East title for the fifth straight year.
"I'm awfully proud of our group," St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli said after the game. "Five years in a row winning the Atlantic 10 regular season, I think it's monumental.
"I think it's special that Temple was the team, because they are standard fare in the Atlantic 10."
The Owls looked anything but standard fare last night, however, as they shot 34 percent overall and were engaged in several controversial plays during an ugly stretch of the second half.
Most of them resulted from the actions Temple coach John Chaney, who was berating officials all night over what he said were illegal screens by the Hawks.
But the officials were not in the mood to listen.
Only four-and-a-half minutes into the second stanza, Chaney was called for a technical foul. After St. Joseph's senior Chet Stachitas sank both free throws, Chaney brought in little-used Nehemiah Ingram, a 6-foot-8 bruiser.
Ingram proceeded to play the next four minutes just as Chaney told him to -- he acquired five personal fouls including one technical.
Meanwhile, the Hawks went on a 15-3 run to take control of the game.
The Owls' frustration reached its peak when Ingram smacked St. Joseph's forward John Bryant on a dunk. Bryant stayed down for a few minutes and did not return.
"An official is a custodian out there, he calls fouls," an irate Chaney said afterwards. "So when he calls fouls on one end, shouldn't he call them on the other end?"
With most of its players in foul trouble, Temple's offense was rendered ineffective. Junior Mardy Collins led the team with 13 points, despite playing most of the second half with four fouls.
The Owls surprised everyone in attendance by starting the game with man-to-man defense instead of their usual matchup zone.
"The players wanted to go man, so I did what they wanted to do," Chaney said.
Stachitas had a game-high 19 points, while senior guard Pat Carroll added 14.
