March 14, 2008

Charlotte 69, UMass 65

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)--Leemire Goldwire hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 62 seconds to play and clinched the game with another in the closing seconds as Charlotte stunned Massachusetts 69-65 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Thursday night.

The sixth-seeded 49ers (20-12) rallied from deficits of 18 points early in the second half and nine points in the final five minutes in upsetting the third-seeded Minutemen (21-10).

Goldwire finished with 24 points and Lamont Mack added 23 before fouling out with 49 seconds to play.

Gary Forbes and Etienne Brower had 14 points apiece to lead Massachusetts, which came into the tournament riding a six-game winning streak.

Charlotte will play second-seeded Temple (19-12) in the semifinals on Friday night at Boardwalk Hall. The Owls beat La Salle 84-75 earlier in the night. Top-seeded Xavier and fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's will play in the other semifinal.

Charlie Coley added 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for the 49ers.

Trailing 62-53 with just under five minutes to play, Charlotte used an 10-1 spurt and tied the game at 63 on a fast break layup by Coley with 1:58 to play.

Dante Milligan tipped in a shot by Forbes to give Massachusetts a 65-63 lead with 1:35 to play, but Goldwire took a pass in the right corner with the shot clock running down and swished a 3-pointer to put the 49ers ahead 66-65.

Chris Lowe, who added 12 points, had a chance to put Massachusetts ahead with 48.7 seconds to play when he was fouled by Mack. However, he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Charlotte worked the clock down.

Goldwire took a straight-on 3-pointer from about 23 feet and nailed it with 18 seconds to play for a four-point lead.

Brower missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds when Massachusetts could not get a shot to fall.

A disgusted Forbes lay prone on the floor after the final buzzer and stormed off the court without shaking hands.

Brower scored eight points in a 16-4 run that ended the first half and put the Minutemen ahead 36-19. A 3-pointer by Lowe stretched the lead to 18, but Charlotte rallied as Mack scored 16 points in a 29-8 spurt that got the 49ers back in the game.

Temple 84, La Salle 75

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)--Chris Clark scored six straight points and Temple tallied the final 11 points in an 84-75 victory over La Salle in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Thursday night.

Dionte Christmas had a game-high 29 points and Mark Tyndale and Sergio Olmos added 14 apiece as the second-seeded Owls (19-12) advanced to their 23rd conference semifinal despite squandering a 14-point second-half lead.

Temple, which has won a season-high five straight games, will play the winner of the quarterfinal between third-seeded Massachusetts and sixth-seeded Charlotte.

Rodney Green had 20 points to lead seventh-seeded La Salle, which finished its season at 15-17. Darnell Harris added 18 points and Yves Mekongo Mbala had 16 for the Explorers, who were routed by Temple last weekend.

This one turned into a great game.

The Owls, who also got 10 rebounds from Tyndale, seemed to be in control after Christmas hit two free throws for a 73-67 lead with 4:37 to play.

However, Harris hit two free throws and a 3-pointer to start and end an 8-0 run that gave La Salle a 75-73 lead.

Olmos scored on a pick-and-roll layup to tie the game, but he failed to convert the three-point play after being fouled with 1:57 to go.

Harris then missed a 3-pointer at the other end and Clark was fouled going for the rebound. He converted both shots to put Temple ahead 77-75.

After Yves Mekongo Mbala was called for walking, Clark hit a 3-pointer that got a very friendly bounce on the rim, going up in the air and coming back down in the basket.

Clark made 1 of 2 free throws after Mekongo Mbala aired a 3-pointer and Christmas converted two more free throws after Harris missed another 3-pointer.

Temple scored the first eight points and 11 of 13 in getting a quick jump on La Salle. The Owls led by eight at the half, increased the margin to 14 early in the second half and were leading 59-48 after a free throw by Christmas with 12:38 to play.

La Salle, which struggled to beat Duquesne in the first round on Wednesday night, went on a 15-2 spurt that featured 3-pointers by Harris, Mekongo Mbala and Ruben Guillandeaux and six points by Green.

There were five more lead changes down the stretch with Clark providing the final one.

Saint Joseph's 61, Richmond 47

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Rob Ferguson scored 16 points and led a 16-point first-half run that carried Saint Joseph's to a 61-47 victory over Richmond in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Thursday.

Ahmad Nivins added 13 points and Tasheed Carr had 12 as the fifth-seeded Hawks (20-11) advanced to a semifinal showdown with No. 10 Xavier (27-5) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The top-seeded Musketeers defeated Dayton 74-65 in the opening quarterfinal.

Saint Joseph's and Xavier split two games earlier this season, with the Hawks ending the Musketeers' 11-game winning streak earlier this month.

Pat Calathes had 11 points for Saint Joseph's, which earned its 13th trip to the conference tournament semifinals.

Kevin Anderson had 16 points for fourth-seeded Richmond (16-14), which was limited to 37 percent shooting from the field in its third lowest scoring output this season.

Saint Joseph's, which rolled to an 80-62 victory over Fordham in the first round, never trailed after Ferguson hit a 3-pointer to ignite the 16-0 run that turned a 12-6 deficit into a 22-12 lead. Nivins added five in the spurt.

Ferguson hit all six of his shots from the field in the game, including three 3-pointers.

The Hawks led 30-22 at the half and they broke the game open with a 10-4 run early in the second half. Saint Joseph's led by as many as 19 points with 5:15 to play.

Dan Geriot, who led the Spiders with a 14.2 point average, was limited to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting. David Gonzalvez had two points, 10 below his average.

Xavier 74, Dayton 65

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP)--Stanley Burrell and No. 10 Xavier plan to make a statement in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Burrell and company are miffed that no one on the top-seeded Musketeers was selected to the conference's first-team team earlier this week.

After the coaches' choices were announced Monday, Burrell called the league pathetic.

The senior guard didn't back down on Thursday after Xavier got 16 points from Josh Duncan and limited Dayton to five baskets in the final 12 minutes of a 74-65 victory in the conference quarterfinals at Boardwalk Hall.

"I just wanted to stand up for them and be a leader, not call the league out," Burrell said. "I'm frustrated that guys that are champions and (they) are not getting any awards. It was tough. We'll move forward and be happy with the victory."

If there were any regrets, Burrell was sorry that he singled out Bryant Dunston of Fordham and Darnell Harris of Saint Joseph's for getting second-team selections ahead of some of his teammates.

"I wouldn't take any of it back except (calling the other players out)," Burrell said. "I really meant what I said and I stand behind what I said."

C.J. Anderson added 15 points for Xavier, Drew Lavender had 12 and Derrick Brown 11 as the top-seeded Musketeers (27-5) beat Dayton (21-10) for the third time this season.

Lavender and Duncan were named to the conference's second team.

The Musketeers advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the seventh straight year. They will play Friday night against fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's, which beat fourth-seeded Richmond 61-47 in the second quarterfinal. Xavier and the Hawks (20-11) split two regular-season games.

Duncan said being overlooked has motivated the team.

"We want to go as far as we can," he said. "We're not satisfied. We wanted to come here and advance as far as we can. Everybody on this team has just one mind-set. We want to go as far as we can. We are not settling for anything.

Xavier coach Sean Miller defended Burrell, saying his senior wore his emotions on his sleeve and did not intend to demean anyone in the league.

Marcus Johnson had a career-high 26 points and Brian Roberts added 13 for the Flyers, who used a 21-6 run to take a 44-41 lead early in the second half.

Duncan, the conference's sixth man of the year, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 44 with 12:59 to play.

After Andres Sandoval gave Dayton its final lead at 46-44 with a basket inside, Anderson hit two free throws to start a 14-2 spurt that featured a go-ahead drive across the lane by Duncan and a 3-pointer by the senior. Burrell also nailed a 3-pointer as the Musketeers took a 58-48 lead.

Johnson, who was 13-of-16 from the free throw line, hit four free throws to cut the lead to 58-52 and Dayton had two chances to narrow the margin, but Kurt Huelsman missed two free throws and Johnson misfired on a 3.

Brown and Anderson sandwiched layups around a Dayton free throw to push the lead to 62-53 and Dayton never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

Dayton, which was forced to go to overtime in the first round against Saint Louis on Wednesday, was 5-of-16 from the field in the final 12 minutes. Three baskets came in the final minute.

Dayton coach Brian Gregory still hopes the Flyers make the NCAA tournament.

"A lot depends on what happens in other games," Gregory said. "We'll be in the mid-30s in RPI and strength of schedule, and we'll have 10 wins against teams in the top 100 of RPI, and two wins against teams in the Top 25. We've done a lot of good things this year. We'll see what happens on Sunday."