WKBW Sports

St. Bonaventure Falls in A-10 Tournament

By WKBW Sports

St. Bonaventure Falls in A-10 Tournament

July 9, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 2:30 PM EST

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — (St. Bonaventure) Behind the inside play of junior Lavoy Allen and the outside shooting of guard Juan Fernandez, No. 17 and top-seeded Temple defeated eighth-seeded St. Bonaventure 69-51 Friday afternoon in the first A-10 Quarterfinal game of the day at Boardwalk Hall.
The A-10 quarterfinal appearance was St. Bonaventure’s first since 2002, as it finishes the season with a 15-16 overall mark. Temple (27-5) has now won eight straight games and seven straight in the A-10 postseason tournament.
Allen’s 13th double-double of the season featured 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. His 15 rebounds are the most by a player in the A-10 tournament since 2005. Fernandez had 12 of his game-high 17 points in the first half, as he knocked down 4-of-5 from long range and dished out seven assists without a turnover.
Sophomore Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, Ontario/Father Michael Goetz Secondary) led the way for the Bonnies with team-highs of 13 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Demitirius Conger (Brooklyn, N.Y./Covenant Christian) and junior Ogo Adegboye (London, England/Findlay Prep) rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points each. Conger’s afternoon also featured six rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Despite having a Temple defender in his face for the full 33 minutes he was on the court, senior Chris Matthews (Washington, D.C./Christian Brothers) hit a trio of three-pointers to become the single-season leader with 101. Matthews finishes his career with 182 threes over just 61 games, good for fifth-best all-time.
The top defensive team in the A-10, Temple limited the Brown and White to 19-of-53 from the field. On the flipside, the Owls shot 53 percent (30-57) and out-rebounded the Bonnies, 39-28. St. Bonaventure did have its fifth single-digit turnover game of the season with just seven giveaways, but the Owls also turned the ball over just seven times and had 18 assists.
Temple led from start to finish, jumping out to a 24-8 lead by the 11:08 mark. The Owls knocked down 10 of their first 16 from the field, including seven straight to end the run.
The Bonnies cut the deficit to single-digits on three occasions over the final 11 minutes with the last coming on Matthews’ 100th three-pointer of the season that made it 32-24 with 2:06 left.
A layup by Allen as time expired gave Temple a 39-27 lead at the half.

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