University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
#17 Temple<br>Atlantic 10 Championship
Spiders Edged In A-10 Final By Temple
03/14/2010 | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2010
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.(AP) - Junior forward Lavoy Allen walked to midcourt seconds after the final buzzer in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game, smiled and raised three fingers.
No. 17 Temple was once again the conference champion, although this time the top-seeded Owls got a scare from third-seeded Richmond in a 56-52 victory on Sunday.
``All three years we haven't been picked to win the championship or not even come close,'' Allen said after Temple (29-5) earned its third straight automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. ``We were underrated at the beginning of the season and we found a way to get through that and win as a team. This year was the toughest of the three so it definitely feels good to win.''
It was not easy.
Ryan Brooks hit four free throws - both 1-and-1 opportunities - in the final 50 seconds and the Owls had to survive a game-tying 3-point attempt by David Gonzalvez with 7 seconds to play.
Ramone Moore hit three free throws in the final 5 seconds to wrap up the school's ninth conference tournament title.
``Once he made it a two-possession game, I was excited,'' Allen said. ``I was ready to get the game over with.''
Richmond (26-8) came close to dethroning the Owls, rallying from a 12-point, second-half deficit. The Spiders had a chance to tie the game on multiple trips in the closing seconds.
``It was a fun game to play in,'' Butler said after Richmond just missed winning its first conference title. ``Obviously we would have liked to been on the other side, but Temple is tough. They were tough all year long. It was a great game to play in.'' Tournament MVP Juan Fernandez scored 18 points and Brooks and Moore finished with 12 each for Temple, which avenged a 71-54 loss at Richmond last month.
``This is really a wonderful team, we learned how to play together and that was really important,'' said Fernandez, who missed the Richmond game with a concussion.
``We have sure goals and we achieved one winning the Atlantic 10. Now we really want to play that first-round game. It's been two years in a row Temple can't get past that, so it's our job to put Temple in that second round.''
Picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, Temple players hugged at halfcourt and jogged around high-fiving fans with Fernandez carrying the flag of Argentina.
Anderson stepped up late for Richmond and scored nine of his 14 points in the final 7:06 to get the Spiders close.
Justin Harper and Butler added 10 points apiece and Gonzalvez had nine.
Temple seemed to be in control after Brooks scored eight straight points early in the second half. He capped the run with a 3-pointer that put the Owls ahead 44-32 with 12 minutes play.
But the Spiders stormed back, closing the gap to one in the final minute and holding the Owls without a field goal for the final six minutes.
