Atlantic 10 Tournament: No. 10 Temple started the opening round by scoring 22 unanswered points in the second half to turn a close game into a 30-point lead en route to a 74-45 blowout of No. 8 Rhode Island. Antywane Robinson scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Owls (16-13), who held the Rams (14-14) to 37 percent shooting. Temple will take on No. 1 George Washington in Thursday’s opening game.
No. 5 Saint Joseph’s ran their winning streak to six as they held off No. 12 Dayton 67-55. In the first half, the Hawks (16-12) ran the lead to double digits before the Flyers (14-17) scored the last seven points to make it a 31-24 game. The Flyers then came close in the second half, getting within one, then two on several occasions before the Hawks scored nine unanswered points to pull away. Abdullai Jalloh scored a game-high 24 points to lead Saint Joseph’s, who will take on No. 4 St. Louis on Thursday.
Stanley Burrell led five players in double figures with 22 points as No. 10 Xavier held off a late rally by No. 7 UMass for a 75-66 win. Xavier (18-10) shot 51 percent from the field and pulled away after UMass (13-15) pulled within five points at 61-56 with under three and a half minutes left. James Life led the Minutemen with 24 points. The Musketeers advance to play No. 2 Charlotte Thursday evening.
In the last game of the night, No. 6 Fordham won the battle of two struggling offensive teams in a 45-37 win over No. 11 Richmond. Bryant Dunston led the Rams (15-15) with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Jermaine Bucknor had 12 points to lead the Spiders (13-17), who were three points off the tournament low for a game (34 by George Washington vs. Temple in the 1994 semifinals). Fordham will take on No. 3 La Salle on Thursday. [3/08/06]
