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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Temple finally got to celebrate an Atlantic 10 championship instead of watching the other team do it.
|  | | Mark Karcher and his Temple teammates flattened St. Bonaventure. |
A year after coach John Chaney made his players sit in tears and
watch Rhode Island celebrate a last-second victory in the A-10
final, the Owls (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) beat St. Bonaventure 65-44 Saturday for their first conference title since 1990.
"I always had my team sit there and watch the other winner, even with tears in their eyes," Chaney said. "I think it's important to do that. It tells you what you're made of."
Making a final push for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, the
Owls (26-5) looked dominant one moment and vulnerable the next.
They led by as many as 28 points in the first half, stumbled in the
second and finally got a smile out of Chaney, their dour leader,
when it was over.
Asked if he thought his team deserved a No. 1 seed when the NCAA
pairings are announced Sunday night, Chaney said, "I'm not much
into it. I know that we've earned (one of) 64, and that's what I've
been saying since I got here."
Tournament MVP Quincy Wadley led Temple with 16 points, and Mark
Karcher had 15. Star point guard Pepe Sanchez failed to score and
missed his only two shots, but had eight rebounds and seven
assists.
"If we're granted a No. 1 seed, then so be it," Wadley said.
"We're going to take all comers."
It was Temple's first A-10 championship since 1990, when the
Owls were led by Mark Macon. The Owls tied UMass with their fifth
conference title, also winning in 1985, '87, '88 and '90.
"This is a more talented team," Chaney said. "This team has
more depth. But I dare say that they're not as smart as the
others."
David Messiah-Capers had 12 points and hit 4 of 5 from beyond
the 3-point arc for the Bonnies (21-9), who are likely headed to
the NCAA Tournament despite the lopsided loss. It was only the
second time in school history that the Bonnies made it past the
second round of the tournament.
"I certainly feel we deserve to be in the tournament with what
we've done, winning eight of our last 11 games," Bonnies coach Jim
Baron said.
St. Bonaventure, hindered by shot-blocker Caswell Cyrus' bout
with the flu, finished with its highest victory total since going
21-8 in 1977-78.
"We had two good games and one bad game," Bonnies point guard
Tim Winn said. "We're ready for the next stage, whatever that may
be."
For such a long title drought, Temple's postgame celebration was
fairly subdued. Much of their early lead disappeared during a 17-5
run by the Bonnies that infuriated Chaney.
Sanchez, who spent a long time on the bench next to Chaney in
the second half, seemed unfazed by his coach's rantings. 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.
Asked by Chaney if celebrating was better than watching the
other team do it, Sanchez said, "I've lost so many times, I'm used
to it."
Chaney finally relaxed when the tournament trophy was awarded to
the Owls, joking with Wadley and other players. Perhaps the victory
will help him forget Temple's four straight losses to UMass in the
A-10 title game in the 1990s, as well as last year's 62-59 loss to
Rhode Island on Lamar Odom's buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
The Bonnies didn't score until more than five minutes in, 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
outrebounded St. Bonaventure 17-0.
The normally cold-shooting 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 was even evident on the referees' faces.
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.
But St. Bonaventure made it respectable -- and gave Chaney
something to be sour about -- with a 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
Bonnies got no closer than 14 points.
St. Bonaventure's 12 points in the first half was the
third-lowest total in any half in tournament history. The record is
10 by George Washington in 1994 and West Virginia in 1992 -- both in
semifinal games against Temple. It was the fewest points in a half
of an A-10 championship game.
The Owls placed three players on the all tournament team -- Wadley, Karcher and Sanchez. Winn and UMass' Monty Mack were the
others.
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St Bonaventure Clubhouse
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Quincy Wadley slices through the lane.
avi: 841 k
RealVideo: | 28.8 | 56.6 | ISDN
Kevin Lyde slams one home against St. Bonaventure.
avi: 784 k
RealVideo: | 28.8 | 56.6 | ISDN
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