College Basketball Roundup : Temple Finishes Off St. Joseph’s

Temple Coach John Chaney likes the way his Owls have developed a habit of running away from their problems.

Howard Evans and freshman Mark Macon led a 28-6 run during the first 11 minutes of the second half Tuesday night, lifting top-ranked Temple over St. Joseph’s, 79-67, in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals at Morgantown, W.Va.

Chaney said: “One of the things is that we try to stay in focus. We want to focus in on the things we want to do. I keep telling them, ‘Stay in touch. Stay in touch.’ ”

The run wiped out a 34-30 lead that St. Joseph’s had at halftime and helped give Temple its 27th victory in 28 games. The Owls, who have won 14 in a row, meet Rhode Island (26-5) in tonight’s title game.

Rhode Island advanced by defeating host West Virginia, 65-63, on Kenny Green’s dunk with 1:42 left.

St. Joseph’s--only the sixth team to lead at halftime against Temple this season--finished the season with a 15-14 record.

“They’re the best team in the country,” St. Joseph’s Coach Jim Boyle said of Temple. “You expect them to do things well at both ends of the court, and they did it.”

Evans scored eight points during the second half-opening run, including five in a nine-second span. After Boyle was hit with a technical foul for protesting a call, Evans made two free throws, then made a three-pointer.

In the first game, Green scored his winning basket after Tom Garrick intercepted an inbounds pass. Garrick had hit one of two free throws to tie, 63-63. West Virginia’s Steve Berger then missed a three-point shot with 53 seconds left.

Rhode Island’s Bonzie Colson and Garrick each missed a free throw in the last 30 seconds, but Berger launched an off-balance 25-foot shot with three seconds left that hit the top of the backboard.

Carlton Owens scored 25 points, and Garrick had 18 for the Rams. West Virginia (18-13) got 15 points from Herbie Brooks.

TOURNAMENTS

MISSOURI VALLEY

Bradley 83, Illinois St. 59--The 12th-ranked Braves, led by Hersey Hawkins with 29 points and Luke Jackson with 16, raced past the Redbirds at Peoria, Ill., to win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and earn an automatic National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament bid.

The Braves raised their record to 26-4, and Illinois State dropped to 18-12.

EAST COAST

Lehigh 84, Towson St. 78--Daren Queenan scored 37 points and Mike Polaha 24 as the Engineers earned an NCAA tournament berth by winning the East Coast Conference tournament at Towson, Md.

Polaha, who scored 83 points in three games, was named the tournament’s most valuable player, as he was in 1985 when Lehigh last won the tournament. Queenan had 79 points in the three games for Lehigh (21-9), increasing his career total to 2,682 points, 12th on the NCAA Division I career scoring list.

Towson State (14-16) fell behind 11-0 and trailed 43-30 at halftime before rallying. Towson tied it with 10:53 remaining and was within 71-70 with 4:11 remaining. But Polaha scored four points and Queenan two as Lehigh moved to a seven-point lead.