The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page E01

RALLY' Complete high school sports coverage on E10-11, and at www.philly.comirally SECTION SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2010 Zile riitatielphia linquirer WWW.PHILLY.COM Temple does A-10 waltz on the Boardwalk The Owls jumped out front, then cruised into the semis. Squad conquers the pressure before conquering Bonnies 11 4jopo, I oppl l'Attl ell 40, -rks ATLANTIC CITY With all due respect to the chaps in the baggy brown unis, St. Bonaventure was not the Temple basketball team's toughest opponent yesterday. With too much time to prepare for the At- lantic Ten tourna- ment, the Owls' tough- est matchup was in their own heads. For 1 the first time, this group is dealing with the rarefied air of a Phil top-20 ranking and a Sheri No.

1 seed in the con Phil Sheridan YONG KIM Staff Photographer Luis Guzman and Lavoy Alien celebrate. "I thought we played very well," said coach Fran Dunphy. ed to take care of the ball, and we didn't want to throw it away," Dunphy said. "We want to get good shots. There were a couple of end-of-shot clocks we didn't finish, and a couple of others that were just a tad late.

I always tell our guys, just don't force anything at the end of the shot clock. If the shot clock runs out, we can set our defense. What I don't want is somebody throwing something less than stellar up there, and they go down and get an easy shot." In winning its eighth straight game and ending the season of a Bonnies squad (15-16) that entered the contest having won five of their last six, Temple, the two-time and defending champions of the A-10 tournament, imSee TEMPLE on E2 "This year, everybody is thinking we're going to win the championship because we have the first seed," Temple guard Juan Fernandez said. "But going to be hard for us. We have to keep showing that what we did during the regular season wasn't for nothing.

Our mind-set is differ---- ent this year." Credit coach Fran Dunphy and his play-II ers for the way Tem ple calmly dispatched the Bonnies, 69-51, at Boardwalk Hall. Temple will play Rhode Island in a semifinal this afternoon. Win that and there's a third consecutive trip See OWLS on E2 1 By Kevin Tatum INQUIRER STAFF WRITER ATLANTIC CITY The Temple men's basketball team was doing the football equivalent of taking a knee yesterday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. With a 69-51 victory at hand, the Owls were just milking the clock in an Atlantic Ten tournament quarterfinal against St. Bonaventure.

They even had a couple of shot-clock violations during the last few minutes that Temple coach Fran Dunphy didn't mind one bit. After leading by 12 at halftime, the Owls went into the last eight minutes with a 20-point lead and didn't allow St. Bonaventure to get closer than 16 points the rest of the way. "We got a nice lead, and want Yesterday's Results 69 51 Today's Semifinals Temple vs. Rhode Island, 1 p.m.

TVRadio: CBS College Sports Network, WPHT-AM (1210) 63 47 Temple St. Bonaventure Rhode Island Saint Louis Xavier Dayton Richmond Massachusetts ference tournament. Ask Villanova and Syracuse, both one-and-done in that other tournament a bit north of here, how easy it is to handle 78 73 Xavier vs. Richmond, 3:30 77 72 Bracket: E2. Falling Short Big East presence at NCAAs justified 76ers hang tough, but fold at the end against Cavs Georgetown beating Syracuse and the overall level of play show why eight teams are going.

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44 -L, bl --y 11, 0, .0 Alift Or r''' 1 I sincr 4 -14 --ilo 0 114 a --s- A -04. 't I AO Al 10- A oi Pr A Illit, --lit( 14' i ('' a 141.: A difjo 2.3 'Ill 004 '41 Its poia-I, 1 lp Lt A :414 SL i it l- i lirt st.r,:,;-.04fivzo....;:-elr; ipla 41 4 7.A.,41101L Mr 1 1 A PI' I -T, 17 16 OTHER KNOW YOUR RIGHT' 0 4 I 4 mituit I DISASItITY StiiNt. wa 1, 6-. l' By Kate Fagan INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Last night, the Wachovia Center was filled not only with people, but also with energy. After weeks of listless basketball by the home team, superstar LeBron James and his NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers entered town and extracted the Cavs 100 best from the struggling 76ers 95 76ers.

Next: Sixers at Their best Heat, wasn't enough tomorrow at 6 for victory, but p.m. it was enough Jordan for entertain- says Meeks ment. may see In the sold- more action. out arena, the Notes, E8. Cavaliers (51-15) held on for a 100-95 victory as James scored 23 points and added 10 assists.

The Sixers dropped to 23-42. "Well, we started off by playing with a lot of energy, with a lot of pop and spirit," Sixers coach Eddie Jordan said. "We did a lot of good things." There were double-clutch dunks, alley-oops at eye level, tomahawk slams in transition, and plenty of eye-popping passes from James. "What a beautiful game," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. "It was pretty from all aspects." There were 54 combined points from Sixers swingman Andre Iguodala, who led the team with 30, and power forward Elton Brand the duo's most prolific effort to date.

"We made a concerted effort to play well at home against the team with the best record in the NBA," Brand explained. "It was going well for us, especially with our two leaders doing well, leading us from the beginning of the game until the end," said Sixers center Samuel Dalembert, who had nine points See 76ERS on E9 By Joe Juliano INQUIRER STAFF WRITER During the Big East Conference tournament, you'll see a matchup that exceeds its billing, one that will have you talking to your friends for days about what a great game it was. Such a matchup Analysis took place this week at Madison Square Garden when longtime rivals Syracuse and Georgetown, both nationally ranked and headed for the NCAA tournament, went at it in arguably the week's best game, one the Hoyas won, 91-84. The caliber of the opponents and the quality of the game made it worthy of a championship contest. But no, this one took place in the quarterfinals that's right, the quarterfinals between the top-seeded Orange and the No.

8 seed Hoyas. That's the way it is in the Big East. And that's why when the NCAA men's basketball committee announces seedings, sites and pairings tomorrow for the Big Dance, the Big East will have at least eight teams included, the most of any conference. Yes, the Big Twelve and the Atlantic Coast Conference, both 12-team leagues, will have an anticipated seven each, a higher percentage. But the Big East is a league that sees teams devour each other during a grueling 18-game schedule and limit more from getting to the party.

"It's the same as it is every year, and the same as it's going to be every year as long as we have 16 teams," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said earlier this season. See BIG EAST on E3 RON CORTES Staff Photographer LeBron James, back after missing two games, is fouled by Rodney Carney. James finished with 23 points. Durbin's new approach Baskett happy to return to Eagles after 'vacation' After a poor '09, the Phillies reliever is prepared. .7,......,..4 ..,...,,..,,..5...

By Matt Gelb INQUIRER STAFF WRITER CLEARWATER, Fla. Two years into his new role as a full-time reliever, Chad Durbin learned how fickle the role can be. In 2008, Durbin was one of Charlie Manuel's most reliable pitchers. He had a 2.87 ERA and 40 of his 71 appear ances for the Phil lies came in the seventh or eighth inning. But those 71 games also marked a career high.

So Durbin took a few extra weeks off during the off-season to rest his arm. But as he began 2009, he said he realized he didn't have his legs and had failed to do all of the core exercise work he needed. That resulted in a strained lower back that bothered him for months and an inconsistent 2009 season. "This off-season I spent a lot of time running, doing core work and making sure my base was there, more so than See PHILLIES on E9 Raiders running back left Philadelphia without a deal and is unlikely to sign with the Eagles, according to a league source. A message left with Fargas' agent, David Dunn, was not returned yesterday.

Baskett returns after almost a full season in Indianapolis. The 27-year-old receiver spent his first three years with the Eagles but was waived after Week 1 last season when the team needed to make roster room for See EAGLES on E4 By Jeff McLane INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The Eagles, apparently working from the bottom up, addressed one of their lesser needs yesterday when they signed wide receiver and familiar face Hank Baskett to a one-year contract. One of their greater needs finding a competent complement to running back Le Sean McCoy was pecked at, but a visit from free agent Justin Fargas resulted in nothing more. The former phillyecom Follow spring-training games and join in the conversation about the action of the Grapefruit League at www.philly.comisports DAVID SWANSON Staff Photographe "This off-season I spent a lot of time running, doing core work and making sure my base was there," says Chad Durbin..