Big Five Final
St. Joseph’s and Temple will bring the fierce rivalry of a Big Five match-up to Boardwalk Hall tonight in the A-10 championship. St. Joe’s defeated nationally ranked and A-10 No. 1 seed Xavier 61-53, and Temple beat the game, but inexperienced Charlotte 49ers 60-45.
With the victories, Philadelphia has been assured of having at least one local team in the NCAA tournament. Philly was last shut-out in 1977. The hallmark of both games was defensive intensity.
In the win over Xavier, St. Joseph’s held the X-Men to 1 for 14 from the 3-point arc and their lowest point total of the year. The Hawks were brilliant at defending the outside and fighting over screens to keep the X-Men from getting any good looks. And, when they did occasionally find themselves free, they couldn’t hit the shots. Sixth man Josh Duncan was scoreless (0-4) in the first half. St. Joe’s offense was dominated by their big three. Pat Calathes had 10 points with two treys, Rob Ferguson had six, and Ahmad Nivins roamed the paint for 9 points. When Nivins picked up his second foul with 10 minutes left in the first half, fifth year senior Arvydas Lidzius did of great job of holding serve, allowing the Hawks to maintain their lead, which reached 10 points at halftime.
The Hawks scored the first five points of the second half, and held the X-men at arms’ length the rest of the way. St Joseph’s had the lead wire to wire. When the Musketeers finally had a few shots fall and looked like they might creep back in, Calathes shut the door with three straight treys. He finished with 24 points and eight rebounds. Nivins had 15 points and Ferguson had 11.
The win also put the Hawks back on the NCAA bubble even if they lose to Temple tonight. Coach Phil Martelli, doesn’t like to speculate about his NCAA chances (“I’m not on the committee”), but the Hawks should be in, having beaten Xavier twice in the last eight days and holding two wins against UMass. Amazingly enough, this will be the first time two Big Five teams have faced each other in the A-10 Championship game. If the Hawks win, they will be only the fifth team in the history of the NCAA to win four games in four days to win their conference title.
In the Temple-Charlotte conflict, Charlotte looked like it run out of gas after their incredible comeback win against UMass the night before. Temple contributed mightily to their tired demeanor. The Owls were a defensive juggernaut, led by the Hannibal Lector-like intensity of Mark Tyndale. He seemed to grab every rebound against a team that had killed UMass off the boards. One play in the second half defined the Temple/Tyndale mindset. A Charlotte player went after a pass that floated over his head, confident no one else was near the ball. Wrong. Tyndale came out of nowhere and grabbed the loose ball, and the resigned look on the face of the Charlotte player summed up his realization that his team would not have a remarkable comeback this night. Tyndale finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds, which more than offset the poor shooting night of Dionte Christmas. After scoring 29 against La Salle on Thursday, Christmas was held to six points on 2 of 9 shooting. Charlotte’s top player, guard Leemire Goldwire, had 18 points but had to work for them, shooting just 5 of 18 (2-5 from the arc).
The Temple-St. Joseph’s game is at 6pm at Boardwalk Hall, broadcast nationally on ESPN.