2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Tournament - Semifinal Recap |
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Richmond Gains a Measure of RevengeSpiders knock off Temple to advance to final
In many previews of Saturday's Atlantic 10 semifinals, the matchup between two-seed Temple and three-seed Richmond was seen as the de facto title game given the craziness on the top half of the bracket. But that didn't matter, and neither did Temple's 73-53 win over the Spiders in Philadelphia on February 17. Richmond beat the Owls 58-54. The win ends Temple's three-year run as conference tournament champion and may have also punched the Spiders' ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Kevin Anderson led the Spiders with 22 points, and Justin Harper added 18 and nine rebounds as Richmond also avenged their loss in last year's A-10 title game. Khalif Wyatt led Temple with 15 points off the bench, but the game was more about two teams playing well on the defensive end throughout. Temple shot just 35.1% from the field and Richmond wasn't much better, making 38.9% of their looks. The Spiders enjoyed a 12-7 edge in points from the foul line and that margin ultimately proved to be the difference between these two evenly matched teams.
Harper and Ramone Moore alternated baskets to start the game, and a Lavoy Allen three-point play gave Temple a 6-4 lead at the first media timeout. The Owls then pushed their lead out to seven with three pointers on three straight possessions, and Juan Fernandez assisted on two of those made baskets. Wyatt made another three following the under-12 timeout to make the score 18-9, only to have Harper come back with a three of his own to pull the Spiders to within six. Temple would lead by as many as eight the remainder of the half, taking a 31-30 lead into the locker room as the Spiders refused to go away. A Harper layup at the 19:18 mark gave Richmond their first lead since 4-3 but that would be short-lived as Aaron Brown knocked down a three on Temple's next possession. Neither team would lead by more than three points until Richmond pulled ahead with five straight points from Anderson to take a 51-46 lead into the under-8 timeout. The Spiders led 53-47 before Temple mounted a charge, going on a 7-0 run with a pair of Moore layups capping the rally with 4:33 remaining. But those would be the last points scored by the Owls the remainder of the game as Richmond clamped down defensively. Justin Harper's tip-in with 3:49 to go gave the Spiders the lead for good, and three free throws in the final 28 seconds sealed the game for Chris Mooney's Spiders. Richmond meets Dayton Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm on CBS.
By Raphielle Johnson |