Owls Are Back To Back A-10 Champs!

Dionte Christmas scored 29 points and Ryan Brooks hit the big three-pointer as Temple earned its second consecutive Atlantic 10 crown with a 69-64 victory over Duquesne on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Read about the game and listen to the postgame press conference.

ATLANTIC CITY – All the speculation over the last few weeks about Temple’s chances at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament proved to be for naught.

For the second straight year, the Owls are champions of the Atlantic 10 Conference and will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when pairings are announced on Sunday. The fourth-seeded Owls finished their conference championship run with a 69-64 victory over seventh-seeded Duquesne Saturday night –- the identical score of Temple’s title win last year over Saint Joseph’s.

Dionte Christmas stroked six three-pointers on his way to 20 first half points and finished with 29 in picking up the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award for a second straight season. The only other player to be named tournament MVP twice was Massachusetts’ Harper Williams in 1992 and 1993.

“It was a goal to get this program back to where it was, which was making the (NCAA) tournament,” said Christmas, addressing the program’s six-year drought before last season’s berth. “But if you had told me we’d win two (A-10) titles back to back, I’d have looked at you like you were crazy.”

Christmas had been struggling entering the tournament and in the first-round win over St. Joe’s, but seemed to get back on track with two big threes late in the semifinal win over Xavier.

“I just never lost confidence,” Christmas said. “When I came here today, (Xavier) was out of my mind and the only thing I had on my mind was winning this title. I didn’t think about the previous games. I just knew how well I was going to play today. I thought everything I shot was going in.”

The Owls took a 42-37 lead behind Christmas’ hot hand and scored the first five points of the second half to seize command. Duquesne cut the lead to five late in the second half, but Ryan Brooks drained a well-defended three-pointer with 4:12 remaining, pushing the lead back to eight.

The Owls stayed comfortably ahead the rest of the way.

“Ryan Brooks is the best clutch shooter I’ve ever coached in my 20 years,” Dunphy said of the junior guard. “He was pretty well-guarded on that shot.”

Temple is the first team to win consecutive tournament titles since it accomplished the feat in 2000 and 2001.

The young, athletic Dukes were trying to win their fourth game in four nights to win their way into the NCAAs. They had already upset No. 2 Rhode Island and No. 3 Dayton heading into the final.

Aaron Jackson scored 20 points, Damian Saunders added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Bill Clark totaled 13.

Temple was able to keep its two big men, Sergio Olmos and Lavoy Allen, on the floor for at least 35 minutes each, and they combined to shoot 11 for 16. Olmos finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Allen totaled 10 points with 14 rebounds.

“Duquesne has a completely different philosophy (than most teams),” Olmos said. “They’re all guards and forwards, and I’m kind of slow. So it’s a tough matchup.

“They tried to take advantage of their speed, and I think I took advantage of my height. I thought I did a pretty good job, but sometimes I didn’t and I got dunked on. But it worked out good for us.”

Brooks finished with 14 points and four assists and Semaj Inge totaled eight assists for the Owls, who will now sit and wait for their name to be called on Sunday.

“I’ve been fortunate in my career to never be wondering if we’re in, that would be torture,” Dunphy said. “The next 24 hours will be fabulous.”

Dunphy/Christmas/Olmos/Brooks Postgame: Listen to Audio

Dunphy Postgame Press Conference: Listen to Audio

Allen Postgame: Listen to Audio

Brooks Postgame: Listen to Audio

Dion Dacons Postgame: Listen to Audio