A Big 3 for the Big Five
On NCAA Selection Sunday, Phil Martelli’s prayers were answered. And maybe those prayers were extended to another Big Five team. Before the Atlantic 10 and Big East Tournaments started, there was speculation in the Philly media that the City of Brotherly Love might be shut out of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977. Instead the Temple Owls played their way into the big dance by beating St. Joseph’s 69-64 on Saturday in the A-10 final. In the Big East, Villanova looked like a burst bubble team when they beat Syracuse but were hammered by Georgetown. Instead, the power of prayer and a perfect storm of basketball upsets changed the dynamic.
On Sunday, Temple, with the automatic bid, was awarded a 12th seed in the South Regional. They will play 5th seeded Michigan State in Denver, Col. With St. Joe’s three wins in Atlantic City, including a second victory over 10th-ranked Xavier, they punched their ticket as a bubble team. St. Joe’s, the Atlantic 10 runner-up, earned a higher seed than Temple. The Hawks are the 11th seed in the East Regional, playing No. 6 Oklahoma in Birmingham, Ala. Somehow the final day of play allowed for Villanova to sneak in as one of the final selections. The No. 12 seed in the Midwest Regional, the Wildcats will face No. 5 Clemson, the team that gave North Carolina such a battle in the ACC final on Sunday. As for Xavier, the No. 3 seed in the West Region, will take on the Cinderella SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs in Washington, D.C.
Three Big Five teams in the dance. Who could have imagined it? In his postgame press conference, Phil Martelli asked fans to pray for a St. Joe's at-large bid. Temple avoided needing prayers by winning the game. Temple has been playing great basketball in winning seven of their last eight games, including three in the A-10 tourney. Before a near capacity crowd of 10,119 at Boardwalk Hall Saturday, the Owls used their defensive intensity and the offensive force of A-10 Most Outstanding Player Dionte Christmas (five treys, 22 points) to come from behind against the Hawks. After trailing by seven at the half, 32-25, the Owls used a 16-2 run in the second half to take the lead and St. Joe’s could only get within three thereafter. The Owls little big man, 5’8” senior guard Chris Clark provided ball handling and key buckets (10 points), but the other key to victory was Temple’s all-everything senior guard Mark Tyndale, named to the A-10 All Championship Team. He had a poor shooting day (1 for 8) but provided sterling defense on St. Joe’s top player, Pat Calathes, who was harassed into 5 for 13 shooting. Tyndale also rebounded and ran the Owls’ offense from the point. Calathes was named to the All-Championship team, joined by teammate and tough inside presence Ahmad Nivins, who had 14 points in the first half but only four in the second half.
March Madness continues later this week with three Philly teams providing plenty of local interest.