Temple University Athletics
Atlantic 10 Champs!!! Men's Basketball Runs Over St. Bonaventure, 65-44
3.11.00 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA (AP) (March 11) In convincing fashion, the Owls captured the A-10 Conference Tournament title defeating surprise challenger St. Bonaventure 65-44 March 11 at the First Union Spectrum in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania.
Temple (26-5) led by as many as 28 points and coasted despite a subpar
game from Pepe Sanchez. The Owls' star point guard was scoreless,
missing the only two shots he took. He had eight rebounds and six
assists and spent a long time on the bench in the second half next to a
dour coach
John Chaney.
The only bright spot for the Bonnies was an 17-5 run spanning the last five minutes of the
first
half and the first four minutes of the second. Patricio Prato's
3-pointer cut it to 39-23 with 15:55 left. The Owls recovered and never let the Bonnies get closer
than 15. Tournament MVP Quincy Wadley had 16 points, and Mark Karcher
added 15. Kevin Lyde had five points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
David Messiah-Capers had 12 points and hit 4 of 5 from beyond the
3-point arc for the Bonnies, who are likely headed to the NCAA
tournament
despite the lopsided loss.
The Bonnies didn't score until more than five minutes into the game,
when Peter Van Paassen put in a layup at the 14:53 mark to cut Temple's
lead to
9-2. Van Paassen also got the Bonnies' first rebound, an incredible
10:45 into the game. To that point, the Owls had outrebounded St.
Bonaventure
17-0.
The Owls were 8-for-12 on 3-pointers in the
first half while the Bonnies missed 10 of their first 11 shots and 23 of
28 in the
half.
The extent of the romp in the first half was evident on plenty of
faces, including those of the referees. After Lynn Greer hit his second
straight
3-pointer to give the Owls a 29-4 lead, referee Joe DeMayo walked by
the press table and rolled his eyes.
The next trip down the floor, Wadley hit a 3-pointer to make it 32-4
and shook his head in disbelief as he backpedaled down the court. Chaney
was
about the only one in the building who wasn't convinced it was over.
After Sanchez threw away a behind-the-back pass, Temple's ornery coach
slammed his clipboard on the floor with the Owls leading 34-6.
Temple ended up outrebounding the Bonnies 45-28, but committed 15
turnovers to St. Bonaventure's eight.
