With A-10 title, Dunphy leaves his mark on program

Imagine what it feels like to replace a legend.

Imagine the expectations. Imagine the criticism. Imagine the pressure.

Imagine what Fran Dunphy must have gone through during his first two years at the helm of Temple’s men’s basketball program.

His predecessor, former Owls coach John Chaney, was an institution at Temple University for 24 years. As much as any other administrator, Board of Trustees member or alumnus, his numerous contributions, on-and-off the court, undoubtedly helped make this university what it is today.

Then, after more than two decades, this iconic figure is gone. And in the years leading up to his exit, the program that he guided to 17 consecutive NCAA Tournaments between 1984 and 2001, is in the midst of a slow-but-sure decline.

Now, here you come. And here comes the second-guessing.

You’ve got the pedigree, leading the University of Pennsylvania to 10 Ivy League Championships and nine NCAA Tournament appearances in 17 years — but can you have the same success at this level?

Can you attract top recruits?

Can you change the culture of the program?

Can you do it? And can you do it quickly?

Well, after leading the Owls to the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship last Saturday, earning Temple its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001, Dunphy could give a simple, two-word response to those critics’ questions.
Shut. Up.

But, of course, even after leading Temple to a second-place finish in the A-10 standings after a 6-10 conference record last year, he wouldn’t say that.

Dunphy’s too much of a class act to ever do anything like that. That’s why he’s the leader of a revived college basketball program and not an ignorant sports columnist for a student newspaper.

From day one, Dunphy has stood under the glare of taking over a program marked in Chaney’s fingerprints. He’s never shied away from that glare, if anything, he’s embraced it.

From day one, he’s embraced the challenge. The challenge of replacing a legend. And his peers have taken notice of what he’s accomplished.

“He went to [Temple] and started a program,” Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said after his team lost to the Owls in the A-10 Championship game. “That’s not knocking John Chaney. John Chaney’s entity at Temple ended and then Fran Dunphy came in and he changed the mindset. He changed the mindset of how to play offense and how to play defense.

“John Chaney’s program is in the Hall of Fame with John Chaney,” Martelli said. “This is a new setting.”

A new setting, indeed. And a flourishing one at that.
But, as Martelli pointed out, Chaney hasn’t – and will never be – forgotten. Nor should he ever be.

The characteristics of his legacy – hard work, dedication, discipline – live on through Dunphy.

And the players who played for both coaches appear to respect and appreciate both men equally.

“I learned a lot my first two years under coach Chaney, who was a great mentor and a great coach [and] I learned a lot under coach Dunphy,” senior Chris Clark said.

In a marathon press conference following Temple’s victory over St. Joe’s Saturday, Dunphy praised the senior leadership of Clark and Mark Tyndale.

The exhaustion of two years’ worth of work quietly etched across his face, he answered every question honestly, intelligently and thoughtfully.

When it was over, he stood up from his chair and accepted a congratulatory phone call from none other than coach Chaney.

Vindication.

Imagine what it felt like.

Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.

A-10 Championship gives Owls NCAA Tournament berth

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – In the chaotic scene that followed the Owls’ 69-64 victory over Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship game Saturday, Mark Tyndale could be found milling about the crowd, hugging teammates, friends and family members.
In his socks.

Tyndale’s white Adidas sneakers vanished and the court at the historic Boardwalk Hall became his own personal dance floor after the men’s basketball team won its seventh A-10 Championship in program history, the most of the 14-teams in the league.

The 6-foot-5 senior and the rest of the Owls still have more dancing to do.

And they’ll do it in Denver.

By beating St. Joe’s to win the A-10 title last Saturday, the Owls secured their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001. They will head to the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. as a No. 12 seed in the South region to play No. 5 Michigan State in the first round of the 65-team tournament Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

The winner will face either No. 4 Pittsburgh or No. 13 Oral Roberts in the second round.

Let the Madness begin.

“I couldn’t ask for a better feeling then this,” Tyndale said. “I’m just so happy for my team, for the program, for all of the alumni and all of the fans.”
The match-up is a familiar – if not ironic – one for the Owls (21-12 overall).

Seven years ago in their final Tournament appearance before this season, the No. 11-seeded Owls advanced all the way to the Elite Eight before they were knocked out by top-seeded Michigan State.

Tyndale, a Simon Gratz High School grauadate and self-proclaimed life-long Temple basketball fan, and fellow senior Chris Clark, a St. Joseph’s Preparatory School graduate, were both 15 years old at the time.

“We were just talking about it – the history,” Clark said after the Owls discovered who they would play during a Selection Sunday viewing at the Draught Horse on Cecil B. Moore Ave.
“It’s fate. We’re looking forward to going out there and playing those guys.”

Temple hasn’t played Michigan State since the Spartans ejected them from the Big Dance in 2001.

This season, Michigan State (25-8) was paced by team-scoring and rebounding leader, sophomore Raymar Morgan, and three-point shooting threat, Drew Neitzel. The Spartans lost to the eventual Big Ten Conference champion Wisconsin Badgers in the conference semifinals last week.

In his 13th season with Michigan State, coach Tom Izzo has guided the Spartans to 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including four trips to the Final Four and an NCAA Championship in 2000. He and Temple coach Fran Dunphy are both members of the USA Basketball Men’s Collegiate Committee.

“I have tremendous respect for him and what he’s done over the years,” said Dunphy, who lost his only meeting against Izzo’s Spartans when was still coaching at Penn.
What Dunphy’s done over his two-year tenure at Temple is direct the Owls back to the Big Dance.

Before he arrived on North Broad Street, the 59-year-old coach led Penn to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, the last coming in 2006.

Under Dunphy’s watch, the Owls made improved from a 6-10 conference record to an 11-5 mark in the A-10, good enough for second place in the competitive league’s standings.
“The team concept became something that they believed in,” Dunphy said about the difference between last year’s team and this year’s squad.

Dunphy said he started to see a change in his players during the second half of Temple’s loss to Duke in January when the Owls shaved a 19-point second half deficit down to eight against the then-No. 7 team in the nation.

Since that game, the Owls have defeated 15 of their next 20 opponents and are currently on a season-high seven game winning streak.

It all came full circle in the end for the Owls as they beat No. 5 St. Joe’s, the team that knocked them out of the A-10 Tournament in the first round last season, for the A-10 title. The storied Big-5 rivals split a pair of intense one-point games in the regular season, but the Owls prevailed in the rubber match.

“Temple versus St. Joe’s is a big rivalry, but to be honest though, we could’ve beat Xavier in the championship. It all feels the same,” said junior Dionte Christmas, who was voted the A-10 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after scoring a team-high 22 points in the title game. “Winning the championship is great. I don’t have any words to describe how I feel right now.”
Temple fans chose to let their actions speak for them as they overflowed onto the court after the final buzzer. It took multiple announcements from the public address announcer to get fans to clear the court for the trophy presentation.

After seven years of waiting, the players and fans tried to squeeze as much out of the moment as they could.

“When the clock hit zero, I saw the fans rushing to the court and everybody throwing their hands up,” sophomore Ryan Brooks said. “We had been saying ‘A-10 champs’ in our huddles since the beginning of the year and to get that, it’s great.”

NOTES
The Owls are 31-25 all-time in NCAA Tournament play … Tyndale and Christmas were named to the Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team along with St. Joe’s Pat Calathes and Ahmad Nivens and Charlotte’s Leemire Goldwire …The Owls won their previous A-10 Championships in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000 and 2001.

Tyson McCloud can be reached at Tyson@temple.edu.

Dancin’ into Denver

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – After the final horn sounded Saturday night, after the fans had rushed the Boardwalk Hall hardwood, and after four roller-coaster seasons, Mark Tyndale and Chris Clark found each other amid a sea of celebration.

There was no hesitation. Not even for a second.

The Philadelphia natives ran straight toward one another and simultaneously leaped straight into the air, bumping chests.

To witness the 5-foot-8 Clark jump that high was pretty impressive. But so was the conclusion to the latest chapter of their Temple careers.

Now, the senior guards have one final chapter to write. And it’s the chapter they’ve been waiting to write since they first stepped foot on this campus as freshmen four years ago.

It’s the story of their first trip to the NCAA Tournament, a story that will begin Thursday in Denver when the 12th-seeded Owls face No. 5 Michigan State in the first round.

It’s a story that for a long time looked like it might never be told. But they can finally place their names alongside Aaron McKie, Marc Jackson and Lynn Greer – Philly guys who led their respective Temple teams to the Big Dance.

“I’ve been a Temple fan almost all my life,” Tyndale said. “When I got here, I just wanted to get to the Tournament and that’s what I did. … I can’t describe this feeling. It’s a great feeling. I’m just so happy.”

“We’ve been talking about this for a long time, trying to get to the Atlantic Ten [Conference] Finals and win it all,” Clark said.

That’s what it took for the Owls to make their first NCAA Tourney appearance since 2001 – winning the A-10 tournament to secure its reward, an automatic bid. It’s a scenario the Owls played themselves into in each of these seniors’ four years.

But if that were the pinnacle of the guards’ struggles, their story wouldn’t be nearly as remarkable.

For Tyndale, the personal hurdles were numerous. He couldn’t harness his intensity. He missed the first half of his junior season while academically ineligible. He struggled to grasp the importance of team basketball and shut-down defense.

For Clark, the difficulties were less dramatized, but they were there.

Playing behind future NBA guard Mardy Collins, Clark didn’t receive much playing time during his first two years. Not only that, his effectiveness was constantly questioned once the little man actually got onto the court.

“I never lost confidence, I always believed in myself,” Clark said. “My teammates believed in me. I was just talking to Mardy about it. Mardy, he knew I could do it. I just needed time and patience. That’s what it’s about, sacrificing.”

There were also the obstacles Tyndale and Clark faced together. Former coach John Chaney’s early morning practices. Adjusting to coach Fran Dunphy, his offense and – even more so – his defense. Missing the postseason completely last year. Those darn Saint Joseph’s Hawks.

For a time, it appeared as if the guards’ NCAA dream would be just that – a dream. They would be handed the same fate as Collins – a perennial ticket to the NIT, less affectionately known as the Junior Prom.

After the Owls finished 12-18 just one year ago, Clark said he would have laughed if someone told him he’d eventually be a part of March Madness.

“I would have said, ‘Stop playing, you’re lying, man,’” Clark said. “I wouldn’t have believed it.”

Even in January, it didn’t seem likely. After losing to Duke, the Owls were just 6-7 and staring at a conference schedule packed with talented teams. But during that loss to Duke, something clicked, and the Owls went 15-5 the rest of the way.

“I think the two seniors, Chris Clark and Mark Tyndale, deserve an unbelievable amount of credit for the way they carried themselves throughout the year,” Dunphy said.

Tyndale put the Owls on his back during the homestretch, averaging 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.44 steals against A-10 opponents.

Clark became the epitome of a role player, hitting big shots when needed, dishing the ball to an open teammate, and even asking to be removed from the starting lineup on Senior Night so the team’s flow wouldn’t be interrupted.

Suddenly, the Owls found themselves playing in the A-10 Final, an automatic NCAA berth on the line. Clark and Tyndale could nearly grasp their dream.

Chaney might have instructed them to “Be the dream.” They did.

Tyndale only scored eight points, but he reeled in nine rebounds and tallied seven assists. He notched two steals, one block, and finished the game without a turnover.

Clark hit two clutch three-pointers. One trimmed Temple’s deficit to seven, seconds before halftime. The other gave the Owls the lead for good.

“It was just a great feeling,” Tyndale said after the win. “I would love for them guys to experience it again next season.”

For Tyndale and Clark, there is no next season.

This is their One Shining Moment.

John Kopp can be reached at john.kopp@temple.edu.

Champions

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – After Mark Tyndale hauled in Tasheed Carr’s desperation three-point attempt with less than 30 seconds left, Chris Clark walked to midcourt, arm up, index finger raised.

The 5-foot-8 Temple senior took another few steps and then raised both his arms above his head, fists clenched.

It was a feeling that the Temple men’s basketball program hasn’t felt in seven years.

For the first time since 2001, the Owls are headed to the NCAA Tournament.

The second-seeded Owls beat their Big 5-nemesis, No. 5 Saint Joseph’s, 69-64, in the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament Championship in front of 10,116 at Boardwalk Hall Saturday to earn an automatic bid into March Madness, which starts Wednesday.

“I don’t think it’s set in quite yet. Clark said. “Maybe tomorrow when we sit down for Selection Sunday, but it hasn’t set in quite yet.

“We worked hard all year, man. We had a lot of ups-and-downs. But, hey, it’s all worth it. It’s all worth it for this.”

The Owls (21-12) have won seven A-10 Championships, the most in the 33-year history of the 14-team conference.

Junior Dionte Christmas, who earned the A-10 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, led the Owls once again with 22 points, while Tyndale approached a triple-double with eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Clark and fellow reserve, sophomore Ryan Brooks, both made clutch shots off the bench. Clark finished with 10 points while Brooks added 15, including eight straight points during a crucial second-half stretch when St. Joe’s cut the lead to four.

“Knowing that you have to step up for you team and knowing that they’re counting on you, it just makes you want to play that much harder,” said Brooks, who played 24 minutes.

“Ryan Brooks – he’s a clutch dude,” coach Fran Dunphy said.

It was Brooks who helped guide the Owls to victory in the rubber match between Temple and St. Joe’s (21-12) this season. The Hawks prevailed in the first contest by a single point on Pat Calathes’ game-winning three-pointer, while Mark Tyndale came up big in the final seconds to lead the Owls to a victory of the same margin in the second meeting.

This time, it wouldn’t be that close.

Trailing 32-25 at intermission, Temple stormed out of the gates in the second stanza after freshman Lavoy Allen started the closing half with a dunk. That began a 16-2 Temple run which put them ahead, 41-34, with 13 minutes, 17 seconds remaining. Soon after, Christmas nailed a three-pointer to give Temple its largest lead of the game at 48-39 with 11:04 left.

“We needed to play as good as a basketball game as we could to beat St. Joe’s today,” Dunphy said. “[In] the second half we played as good as we could play.”

Temple shot 60 percent from the field in the second half.

“Coach told us we’re getting the shots we want, we’re just going to start knocking them down eventually and that’s what we did in the second half,” Tyndale said. “I think Lavoy Allen’s dunk in the second half gave us a great spark.”

Allen and senior Sergio Olmos helped defend Hawks center Ahmad Nivens, who only scored one field goal in the second half after notching 12 points prior to intermission. Nivens scored a team-high 18 points while Calathes had an off-night from beyond the arch, shooting 2 of 10 from three-point range, to finish with 14 points.

“We did this together, we got to this game together and we weren’t good enough tonight together,” St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli said.

In only his second season at the helm, Temple coach Fran Dunphy brought a group of players he inherited from long-time Owls John Chaney together as a collective unit.

Last year, the Owls finished 10th in the conference with a 6-10 A-10 record and a 12-18 mark overall.

“It’s a tremendous turnaround and I give our seniors as much credit as I possibly can,” Dunphy said referring to Tyndale and Clark. “[They] have been great leaders for this group in different ways.

“It’s just one of those teams that I think there’s a great chemistry to it. They like one another. It just kind of came together. I don’t think there’s any secret.”

Now, under Dunphy’s guidance, the Owls will return to familiar territory – the NCAA Tournament – a place they visited 17 times with Chaney.

“This,” Dunphy said, “is an unbelievable feeling for our kids.”

NOTES

Tyndale and Christmas were named to the A-10 All-Championship Team … Temple is now 7-7 in A-10 Championship games with their last win coming in 2001. St Joe’s is now 2-3 all-time in the tournament finale … Temple leads the all-time series between the two teams, 82-64. Temple is 8-2 against St. Joe’s in A-10 Tournament play … Current New York Knicks point guard and former Temple Owl Mardy Collins was in attendance for the game. Collins finished his career with Temple in 2006 …

Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.

(Top photo by Kevin Cook. Left photo by Ron Davis.)

Also read: “A-10 title, not NCAA Tournament, defines season”

A-10 title, not NCAA Tournament, defines season

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Forget the NCAA Tournament.

It will be awfully difficult for the men’s basketball team to top the emotions that encompassed Boardwalk Hall Saturday night when Temple won the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship and punched its ticket to the Big Dance for the first time since 2001.

Making the Sweet Sixteen would be nice. Advancing to the Elite Eight would be unimaginable. But even those accolades would really just be like the mediocre hills at the end of a roller-coaster. The most fun part – what everyone remembers – is the big hill.

And what a hill it was.

The Owls entered the season appearing to be a non-factor in the A-10. And, for the first two and a half months of the season, they did nothing to change that sentiment.

Then, somewhere between the second half of their loss to Duke and upsetting Xavier one week later, something clicked. Somewhere, they found confidence within themselves.

Make that found confidence in each other.

“Somehow, someway, it’s just within teams,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “I think these kids just picked the defensive end up. They got a steal, they got a basket, they got another basket, and all of a sudden they said, ‘Well, maybe we can be pretty good.’”

That confidence sparked further accomplishments.

They got a win. They got another win. They beat a hated rival in an epic comeback. And eventually, they strung together straight four wins to secure the second seed in the conference tourney.

Suddenly, the Owls found themselves talking about making a run at the conference title. Three wins later and the Owls found themselves dancing on the Boardwalk Hall hardwood, hugging teammates, administrators and fans.

It was quite a scene.

Semaj Inge – he of the disastrous Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic – found himself wearing one of the nets around his neck.

Sergio Olmos, the 7-foot-0 center always considered “a year away,” found himself leaping on the backs of teammates, trying to get into a celebratory photo. (Why such a tall man needed to heave himself above his teammates, who knows?)

Chris Clark, the 5-8 senior guard constantly questioned about his capabilities, finally found himself with a birds-eye view, clipping the final strands of the net as he stood above his teammates atop a wooden ladder.

“I don’t think just getting into the Tournament is something that we can be like, ‘Okay, we got into the Tournament, that’s cool,’” Clark said. “We want to win some games and make a mark.”

Winning a few Tournament games would be nice. But remember this, only one NCAA team gets to celebrate in the fashion the Owls did Saturday night. That’s the national champions – and no one is mistaking these Owls as a contender.

So, savor this elation, this glory, this pride.

Because it’s the six-year absence from the Big Dance that has led to it, eating at the hearts of this program and its fans. The beating that Saint Joseph’s has lashed on the Owls in recent years caused additional heartbreak.

The Owls ended both simultaneously Saturday. No matter what the Owls do in March Madness, that’s what the 2007-08 season was all about.

John Kopp can be reached at john.kopp@temple.edu

(Photo by Kevin Cook.)

Also read: “Champions”

Owls trail at intermission

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The Saint Joseph’s Hawks led Temple, 32-25, at halftime of the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship game at Boardwalk Hall Saturday.

Hawks junior forward Ahmad Nivens scored 12 points in the first 20 minutes, while junior Dionte Christmas paced the Owls with 12 points on three three-pointers.

Leading 6-5 with 16 minutes, 47 seconds left, Saint Joseph’s went on a 9-0 run to open up a 15-5 lead over Temple with 3:34 remaining in the first half.

Temple sophomore Ryan Brooks and junior Dionte Christmas hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull the Owls within three points with about 10 minutes left. The Owls had three potential three-pointers erased because of turnovers, including a shot clock violation and an off-the-ball foul.

Senior Chris Clark hit a long-range jumper with 5.5 seconds left in the half.

Hawks senior Pat Calathes, the team’s leading scorer at 17.9 points per game, picked up his third foul with 1:34 left in the opening stanza, but continued to play sparingly throughout the half.

The Owls are vying for their seventh A-10 Tournament crown.

Check Temple-News.com later tonight for more coverage after the conclusion of the game.

The sights and sounds of a championship

Click here to view a photo slideshow of the A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament by TTN photographer Ron Davis.

Click here to view a photo slideshow of the A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament by TTN photographer Kevin Cook.

Also, listen to post-game comments from Saturday’s game.

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Cook)

Round three

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – When a team is able to hold its opponent’s best scorer to only six points, chances are they might have a good shot at winning the game.

The Charlotte 49ers kept Temple’s top scorer, Dionte Christmas, under wraps but couldn’t contain the other half of the Owls “one-two punch” – Mark Tyndale

Tyndale scored 20 points, snared 15 rebounds and dished out four assists in the second-seeded Owls’ 60-45 win over No. 6 Charlotte in the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament semifinals Friday night at Boardwalk Hall.

Guided by the 6-foot-5 senior’s efforts, the Owls (20-12) won their sixth consecutive game and advanced to the A-10 Championship game to face their Big 5-rival and long-time nemesis, Saint Joseph’s, Saturday at 6 p.m. The fifth-seeded Hawks (21-11) beat No. 1 Xavier, 61-53, in the opening game to move on to the final round.

Temple split its two regular season games against St. Joe’s with both contests being decided by a point.

With the victory, the Owls have reached reached the conference’s championship game for the first time since 2003, when they lost to Dayton at the University of Dayton Arena.

“It feels good. [We’ve] got a chance to go the [NCAA] Tournament. It can’t get no better,” Tyndale said.

Despite sewing up his second consecutive double-double – his sixth of the season – Tyndale still wasn’t completely satisfied with his performance.

“Eight turnovers,” he said glancing over the stat sheet during the post-game press conference. “I have to do a better job than that tomorrow. I can’t lead my team with eight turnovers.”

Yet, somehow, he did.

Tyndale’s teammate and fellow senior, Chris Clark, was the only other Owl to score in double-figures as Christmas was held to just six points on 2 of 9 shooting. Clark finished with 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench while freshman Lavoy Allen, who played all 40 minutes, scored six points and pulled down nine rebounds in a game that Temple outboarded Charlotte, 48-28.

Charlotte’s leading scorer, Leemire Goldwire, shot only 5 of 18 from the field for 18 points, while junior Lamont Mack was equally inefficient, making only four of his 17 shots for 11 points. As a team, the 49ers shot 27 percent for the contest.

Temple led from the opening tip, establishing double-digit leads several times throughout the first 30 minutes of the game.

Nursing a 10-point lead with 9:55 left, the Owls scored only two points in the next two minutes, 55 seconds to allow Charlotte to climb back into the game. Goldwire sank a three-pointer that caused Temple to call a timeout after its lead shrunk to 44-39 with seven minutes remaining.

“We knew coming into the second half that Charlotte won’t quit. They do a tremendous job of fighting to the end,” Clark said referring to the 49ers’ second-half rally in their win over Massachusetts in the quarterfinals Thursday.

After the timeout, the Owls went on an 11-3 run, which gave them a sizeable 55-42 advantage with 2:24 left.

In a game where both teams didn’t shoot a high percentage from the field, that was a large enough margin to seal the 49ers’ fate.

That, and Tyndale’s solid individual performance.

“You could just see it in his eyes that he was ready to go tonight,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “I think he just had it in his mind that he didn’t want to stop playing basketball at Temple.”

And he won’t. Not yet, anyway.

As the clock winded down, the Temple student section started a “we want St. Joe’s” chant. It was a sentiment that Tyndale agreed with after the game.

“I was pulling for St. Joe’s,” he said.

For the first time in A-10 Tournament history, the two storied Philadelphia schools will vie for the A-10 Championship.

“What more can you ask for?” Dunphy said. “We are going to play in the championship against our biggest rival and this is what it’s all about.”

NOTES
The Owls will play in their 14th A-10 Championship game, a conference record. Temple is 6-7 in A-10 title games … With the win, Temple improved to 14-9 in A-10 tournament semifinals … The Owls and St. Joe’s have met nine times in A-10 tournament play with Temple winning seven of those games. The Hawks have won the previous two meetings, including a victory in the first round of last year’s tournament.

Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.

(Top photo by Kevin Cook. Left photo by Ron Davis)

Also read: “Rivalry reaches its highest level”

Rivalry reaches its highest level

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – For a couple days, a storied rivalry was put on hold.A few of the Saint Joseph’s Hawks wished the Temple Owls luck in reaching the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament final.

The Hawks reached the final by upsetting Xavier in the first semifinal game Friday. The Owls simply needed to win their semifinal match-up against Charlotte to make the A-10 championship game a Philadelphia showdown.

They did. And when the final buzzer sounded on the Owls’ 60-45 win, the rivalry was not only renewed, but raised to a level it has never reached.

For the first time, the Owls and Hawks will battle for the A-10 Championship and its coveted reward, an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

“What more could you ask for?” Owls coach Fran Dunphy said. “We’re going to play for the championship against our biggest rival. This is what it’s about.”

Both teams probably need to win to punch its ticket to the Big Dance, though the Owls’ situation is a little more desperate than the Hawks.

That’s because the Hawks upset top-seeded Xavier, ranked No. 10 in the nation, for the second time in less than 10 days. Their NCAA resume includes a big non-conference win against Villanova and two tight losses to Syracuse and Gonzaga.

The Owls played a tougher non-conference schedule, but didn’t come up with any significant wins. They did beat Xavier, though, and used a strong finish to clinch second place in a very competitive A-10.

But enough about NCAA hopes, already.

This game promises so much excitement merely from the fashion in which the teams’ two meetings unraveled.

To refresh, Mark Tyndale missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw with the Owls clinging to a 67-65 lead with 17 seconds left in the first meeting at the Liacouras Center. Pat Calathes then drilled a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left to hand the Hawks a 68-67 comeback victory.

In the rematch, Tyndale capped a 14-point comeback by driving through the lane for a game-winning layup with 22.3 seconds left. The Owls exited the Palestra with a 57-56 win.

Still, there needed to be a third game between the schools to determine which team could claim itself the better squad. Now that game is here. And it’s going to put a Philadelphia team into the NCAA Tourney.

Only one of the current players on either team – Saint Joseph’s Arvydas Lidzius – has ever appeared in an NCAA Tournament game.

The Hawks haven’t reached the Big Dance since 2004, when they made the Elite Eight. The Owls’ NCAA drought has been longer, having failed to get back after losing in the Elite Eight in 2001.

This is as close as Tyndale, a senior, has ever come to the Tournament. The Owls haven’t reached the A-10 final since 2003, his junior year of high school.

“I’m feeling good,” Tyndale said after posting 20 points and 15 rebounds against the 49ers. “I’ve got a chance to get to the Tournament. I couldn’t feel no better.”

Beating the Hawks and finally reaching the NCAA Tournament would probably make raise his spirits even more. But topping Saint Joe’s has been one of the most difficult tasks for Temple to accomplish during Tyndale’s tenure.

The Owls have lost 12 of their last 14 games in the city-series. Tyndale has been a part of eight of those losses. Two of them eliminated the Owls from the A-10 Tournament.

Now, the stakes between the Owls and Hawks are the highest they’ve ever been.

Though the teams have met in the A-10 tournament nine times, with Temple owning a 7-2 mark, they’ve never met in the final. But the Hawks have knocked the Owls out of the A-10 Tournament the last two seasons.

“It’s going to be crazy out there,” Ryan Brooks said. “It’s definitely going to be a war. The Temple-Saint Joe’s rivalry has gone a long way. Just to have an all-Philly final, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

John Kopp can be reached at john.kopp@temple.edu

(Photo by Ron Davis)

Also read: “Round three”

Clark to the rescue

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Chris Clark dressed down La Salle with a career-high 22-point performance in the Owls’ win against the Explorers Saturday.

The 5-foot-8 reserve didn’t score as much in the rematch Thursday night. But he managed to hit enough clutch shots to lead second-seeded Temple to an 84-75 victory over No. 7 La Salle in the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Boardwalk Hall.

The Owls (19-12), who are on a season-high five-game winning streak, advanced to the A-10 semifinals to play the winner No. 6 Charlotte (19-12) Friday at 9 p.m. The Owls went 1-1 against the 49ers this season, winning the second meeting, 75-61, at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 27.

Against La Salle Thursday, Clark, a senior guard and a St. Joseph’s Prep graduate, untied a 75-75 game by scoring six consecutive points for the Owls late in the contest.

Of those six points, the biggest was a back-breaking, NBA-range three-pointer that soared high off the rim and, eventually, fell majestically through the net. The seemingly improbable shot, which Clark hoisted with the shot clock winding down, gave Temple an 80-75 lead with 50 seconds left.

“I was like, ‘Man, come on. You’ve got to fall for me,’” Clark said laughing. He finished with 12 points, going 3-of-5 from three-point territory.

Junior Dionte Christmas scored 29 points to lead the Owls, while senior Mark Tyndale gave another solid all-around effort, notching his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists despite seven turnovers. Junior Sergio Olmos scored 14 points – 10 in the second half – on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting night.

Sophomore Rodney Green scored a team-high 20 points for La Salle (15-17).

Trailing for the majority of the contest, the Explorers climbed back from a 53-39 deficit to take a one-point lead with nine minutes remaining. At one point during their rally, La Salle scored on 11 straight possessions – a 24-10 run over a seven-minute span.

But the Explorers were held scoreless for the final 2:15 of the game and Clark’s long-range circus shot helped drained the life out of any comeback hopes that La Salle could muster.

“It was a difficult shot to watch go in,” said La Salle senior Darnell Harris, who finished with 18 points.

La Salle coach John Giannini said Clark’s shot “seemed to go up near the top of the roof of the building before it dropped through the net.”

“Agony,” Giannini said later. “Just agony.”

Giannini’s squad found itself trailing, 9-0, after missing its first seven shots of the game. The Explorers didn’t get their first basket until sophomore Yves Mekongo Mbala scored on a put-back at the 16:05 mark of the first stanza.

The Explorers slowly started to find their offense though, and the Owls kept the window open for them.

Harris hit a three with 3:20 left before intermission to get La Salle within four points of tying the game. Although they allowed Temple to shoot 55 percent in the first half, La Salle went into halftime trailing, 43-35, to remain within striking distance.

Coming out of the break, Olmos scored eight of the Owls’ first 10 points before heading to the bench with his fourth foul at the 14:53 mark. Junior Lavoy Allen, who replaced Olmos, kept the Owls’ big-man production going as he zoomed up the right baseline for a lunging dunk that gave Temple a 55-44 lead with 14:32 left.

That’s when La Salle caught fire.

The Explorers embarked on a 17-6 run that ended with four consecutive three-pointers which put them ahead, 62-61, with less than 10 minutes remaining.

It wasn’t enough to keep the Owls from retaining the lead however.

Clark’s lucky three-point heave didn’t help matters, either.

“We feel very fortunate to have won the game. There was a stretch there in the second half where we were in big trouble,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “Certainly [Clark’s late-game three pointer] is as much of a sign of our good fortune as anything else that happened tonight.”

NOTES

Temple improved to 23-2 in A-10 Tournament quarterfinal games by defeating La Salle. … This was the second A-10 Tournament meeting between these two teams. La Salle defeated Temple in the A-10 quarterfinal in 2002, snapping the Owls five-game winning streak at the time. … Entering Thursday’s game, Temple had not beaten La Salle twice in a season since 2001. … This was the 35th time in junior Dionte Christmas’ career that he has scored 20 or more points in a game. … With about 14 minutes left in the game, senior Mark Tyndale lost his right sneaker and continued to play defense without it for about 10 seconds. At the next whistle, he ran to the scorers table to retrieve the shoe. … Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics Al Shrier, a longtime-member of the Temple athletic administration, was honored with the 2008 Bob Vetrone A-10 Media Award during the game. Shrier has worked at Temple for more than 50 years.

Tyson McCloud can be reached at tyson@temple.edu.

Also read: “Turnovers spoil Tyndale’s double-double”

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