A-10 title up for grabs as Owls take on Spiders

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gunning for their ninth Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament title, the third in as many seasons, the 17th-ranked and top-seeded Temple Owls take the floor at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this afternoon against third-seeded Richmond.

The Owls, who are attempting to become only the second team in the A-10 to ever win three straight tourney titles after the five in a row posted by UMass from 1992-96, haven't been truly challenged in this year's event. The squad opened with a 69-51 defeat of eighth-seeded St. Bonaventure on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals and then moved on to a 57-44 victory against Rhode Island on Saturday. With the triumphs, Temple is now 51-19 in the tournament all-time.

As for the Spiders, currently an even 8-8 in this event since joining the league, they have yet to bring home the trophy. Then again, this is just the second trip to the title game for the program following a 72-60 loss to Xavier back in 2002. Ironically, it was an 89-85 overtime victory against those same Musketeers yesterday that propelled Richmond into the tournament finale.

The Spiders have tied the school-record for the most wins in a single season and have defeated four straight ranked opponents, with their eye on making it five this afternoon in Atlantic City.

Of Temple's two conference losses this season, one was at the hands of the Spiders in a 71-54 final in Virginia back on February 6th, the last time the Owls also lost any outcome. As a result, the all-time series now numbers 8-7 in favor of Temple.

After getting to overtime against Xavier yesterday, the Spiders had little trouble disposing of the Musketeers as they shot 4-of-5 from the floor and a perfect 2-of-2 behind the three-point line and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe to seal the deal. All-conference performer David Gonzalvez posted 26 points, converting all but one of his 14 free-throw attempts, while adding five assists and four rebounds. Just ahead of Gonzalvez in the scoring column was Kevin Anderson, who logged a game-high 27 points as he made good on 10-of-21 shots from the field. Playing a significant role off the bench was Dan Geriot with 11 points in a mere 16 minutes, while fellow reserve Francis Martel tacked on 10 points and eight rebounds. Richmond, which has played three overtime games in the last five outings overall, is led in scoring by Anderson and his 17.9 ppg, having made more shots at the free-throw line (122-of-147) than all but one of his teammates has attempted this season. Gonzalvez accounts for another 14.7 ppg having made good on a team-best 73 three-point attempts. The defense for the Spiders has held opponents to just 39.2 percent shooting from the field, 29.3 percent out on the perimeter and 62.4 ppg overall.

Sticking with the starters for as much as possible, the Owls had little worry as they easily took care of Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon by double figures. In fact, Temple ran out to a commanding 15-2 lead and never looked back as the defense held URI to just seven total field goals in the first half and 27.1 percent shooting from the floor overall in the contest. The Owls themselves had some issues from the field in the second half with just five field goals, but the squad hit on 12-of-20 at the free-throw line to keep their distance. Ryan Brooks was responsible for 16 points, Juan Fernandez 14 and seven assists, while Lavoy Allen came up a point shy of logging another double-double as he cleared a team-best 10 rebounds. Winners of nine in a row, the Owls have had a different leading scorer in each of the last four outings, a testament to the team's balanced scoring attack. Brooks tops the scoring list with his 14.3 ppg, followed by Fernandez and Allen with 12,4 and 11.7 ppg, respectively. While the points can be evenly divided in any given contest, Allen is easily the leader in the paint for Temple with his 10.9 rpg. In fact, in the meeting last month against Richmond the big man was a beast in the paint with not only 17 points, but also a game-high 19 rebounds.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

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Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

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Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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