Temple University Athletics
Temple University
St. Bonaventure
Top-Seed Temple Opens A-10 Tournament Play Friday Against St. Bonaventure
3.10.10 | Men's Basketball
Owls look to become just second A-10 team to "three-peat"
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - The #17/17 Temple men's basketball team opens its defense of its Atlantic 10 Championship with a quarterfinal game with St. Bonaventure Friday afternoon (Noon/Comcast SportsNet/1210 AM WPHT) at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. The top-seeded Owls will meet the eighth-seeded Bonnies for the third time in A-10 Tournament play and the first time since the 2000 Championship game won by Temple, 65-44, at the Spectrum. The other meeting came in the 1985 A-10 Quarterfinals, a 67-56 TU win.
The two-time defending Champion Owls will be looking to join UMass (1992 through 1996) as the only A-10 teams to win three consecutive conference championships.
Temple defeated St. Bonnies for the 12th straight time, 73-55, on Feb. 17 in Olean. It was the second game of the Owls current seven-game win streak. Sophomore guard Ramone Moore led the Owls with 18 points while freshman guard Demitrius Conger came off the bench to contribute a game-high 19 points for the Bonnies.
Like Temple, St. Bonaventure has closed the season strong. The Bonnies, who picked up their first A-10 postseason win since 2002 on Tuesday night with an 83-72 home victory over #9-seed Duquesne, have won five of six since falling to the Owls. The lone loss during that stretch drive came at #24/RV Xavier, 93-72, in the regular season finale.
The Owls have experienced great success in the A-10 Tournament, having won the most games (49) and championships (8) in conference history. The quarterfinal round has been where TU?has been at its best, posting a 24-2 mark and winning its last four. The Owls last loss in the quarterfinals came against Richmond, 64-49, in 2004. The other loss was to La Salle, 72-66, in 2002. The La Salle loss was the last time Temple played as the #1-seed in the A-10 Tournament, having won the East Division.
Temple has played as the overall (non-divisional) #1-seed four times prior to this season. The Owls are 10-1 as the overall top seed, winning the A-10 title in 1990, 1988, 1987 and losing in the semifinals to #5-seed West Virginia, 67-65, on the Mountaineers home court.
