Spiders knock off three-time defending Atlantic 10 champion Owls

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Kevin Anderson scored 22 points and Richmond beat three-time defending champions Temple 58-54 in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Saturday.

Justin Harper added 18 points and nine rebounds as the third-seeded Spiders (26-7) avenged a loss to the No. 24 ranked Owls (25-7) in last year's title game and a 20-point loss earlier this season.

Khalif Wyatt had 15 points and Lavoy Allen added 12 points and 10 rebounds for second-seeded Temple, which had a string of 10 tournament victories at Boardwalk Hall snapped.

Juan Fernandez, the most outstanding player in last year's tournament, had a miserable day, shooting 3 of 17 from the field and missing a one-and-one chance with 17 seconds to play and the Owls down 57-54.

Temple did not score in the final 5 minutes after taking a 54-53 lead on a layup by Ramone Moore.

The victory sent Richmond to the conference final against ninth-seeded Dayton, which defeated 12th-seeded Saint Joseph's 64-51 in the opening semifinal.

Trailing 46-43 after Wyatt hit a 3-pointer with 12:25 to play, Richmond scored the next eight points to take a 51-46 lead, with Anderson hitting a 3-pointer and a jumper to cap the spurt.

Temple, which seemed to be on the edge of being knocked out, made one final push, scoring the next seven points.

Wyatt converted a three-point play and Moore scored on a pair of fastbreaks, putting the Owls ahead 54-53 with 5:03 to play and bringing the many Philadelphia-area fans in the crowd at this casino resort to their feet.

After a couple of fruitless possession on both sides, Harper drove the lane and tipped in his own missed shot to put the Spiders ahead 55-54 with 3:48 to play.

The next 3 minutes were all defense, with neither team scoring another point until Anderson hit both ends of a one-and-one chance with 28.5 seconds to play.

The free throws came after some controversy.