Christmas, Defense lead Temple past Xavier – into A-10 Finals

Fa-fa-fa-fa-FLOYD CHRISTMAS!!!! Dionte “Floyd” Christmas rebounded from the worst game of his career in the Owls A-10 Tourney opener to lead all scorers with 20 points. Christmas also added two boards, three assists and four steals. Temple held the Musketeers to season lows in points and field-goal percentage in a 55-53 victory that gave the fourth-seeded Owls (21-11) a chance to become the first team to repeat as conference tournament champions since they did it in 2000-01. They will now face Duquesne for the automatic bid to the Big Dance. I believe Temple should already have their ticket punched, but a win of course will render my beliefs meaningless.

Naismith Watch: 18.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.5 spg, 41.1 FG%, 75.2 FT%, 34.3 3pt%

Temple real-time RPI: 39 SOS: 52