Temple Stops Richmond for A-10 Title

Filed under: A-10

The top-seeded, 17th-ranked Temple Owls have won their third straight Atlantic 10 conference tournament, after taking down the Richmond Spiders 56-52. Tourney MVP Juan Fernandez led the Owls with 18 points, but it was the steady hand of Ryan Brooks that helped seal the game down the stretch for Temple. Richmond had trimmed an eight point deficit down to one on two different occasions, but each time Brooks — a senior — followed with a pair of successful free throws to stave off the Spiders’ comeback.

The game was very well played and even in many respects, but one fundamental difference is glaring from the stat sheet. Temple hit 12 of 14 free throws, while Richmond only made five trips to the line — making just one. That’s right, Richmond made one free throw in the entire game. They missed four free throws and lost by four points. Of course, had they been more aggressive in paint penetration, they could have possibly mustered a few more trips to the line and closed the gap.

In the end, though, it was Temple who avenged a loss from last month — the last time they lost a game — and prevailed. They have likely set themselves up for a four seed, if not a three. Richmond will also see their name revealed during the Selection Show Sunday evening, and they will probably fall in the 6-8 range.

 

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