Big 5 | Owls make Hawks prey

Yes, Temple squandered its chance to become an at-large NCAA Tournament selection when it lost to La Salle and Dayton last week. Its only realistic hope to make the Big Dance is to win the Atlantic 10 tournament in Atlantic City next week.

But by beating Saint Joseph's, 68-59, at home last night, the Owls (18-11, 10-5 Atlantic 10) made that task a shade easier.

The win guaranteed that Temple will end up no lower than fourth in the A-10 standings, giving them a first-round bye in the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday. Duquesne could still tie Temple's record, but the Owls will get the tournament bye because they beat the Dukes at home on Feb. 15.

On Senior Night at the Liacouras Center, the Owls' Class of 2009 - Dionte Christmas, Sergio Olmos and Semaj Inge - combined for 104 minutes and 46 points, which was good for 67 percent of Temple's offense. Second-leading scorer Lavoy Allen picked up two silly fouls in the games first eight minutes and only played 15 overall, and Ryan Brooks, another top option, could not work himself open against the Hawks' persistent perimeter defense.

But although the Hawks limited Temple from the outside, the Owls won the game in the paint. Christmas went just 3-for-10 on three-point attempts, but hit four of eight from close range, helped by some superb interior passing by backup point guard Juan Fernandez. In Allen's absence, 6-foot-9 forward Craig Williams drilled an uncharacteristic pair of three-pointers during a key 13-0 run midway through the second half, right after St. Joe's had cut down the Owls' lead to two points. Temple also hit 19 free throws overall, a welcome relief after they nearly gave away their last game against St. Joe's (15-14, 8-7) with a woeful free-throw performance.

The Hawks' Ahmad Nivins once again filled the box score with 17 points and 16 rebounds, but he had to take 16 shots to do it. Olmos's defense drew praise from both coaches.

"Serg didn't get a whole lot of help on Nivins," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "As good as he was offensively, and he was very good, he was terrific defensively."

St. Joe's lost to Temple for the fourth straight time and will now face an even more harrowing set of opponents in Atlantic City. La Salle has clinched a tournament spot too, meaning that the Big 5 still has three teams that could enter the NCAAs from the A-10.

Philadelphia will doubtless send at least one representative - Villanova - to the NCAAs this year. After tonight, its hopes for a second lie with Temple more than ever.

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