Temple tops Richmond to win A-10 crown, gets NCAA bid

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03/14/2010 - Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Fernandez led all scorers with 18 points, as 17th-ranked Temple held on to claim its third straight Atlantic 10 Conference title with a 56-52 win over Richmond at Boardwalk Hall and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Ryan Brooks and Ramone Moore each finished with 12 points for Temple (29-5), which defeated St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island to get to the A-10 final. Lavoy Allen chipped in with a game-best 11 rebounds to go along with four points for the Owls, who earned their ninth A-10 title.

Kevin Anderson had 14 points for Richmond (26-8), which defeated Massachusetts and Xavier on the way to the tourney final. Justin Harper ended with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Ryan Butler also donated 10 points for the Spiders.

Temple held a four-point lead at the half and extended it to 44-32 with 12:06 to play following consecutive triples by Brooks. Then, with the Owls ahead 49-41 with 6:33 left, Butler made a layup and Anderson added a three-point play and tip-in for eight unanswered points to get the Spiders to within 49-48 with 1:20 to go.

With Temple holding a three-point edge, 53-50, David Gonzalvez missed a long three-pointer with 11 seconds to play and Moore iced it with two makes from the stripe.

Temple scored the first seven points off the opening tip and played the front- runner for the majority of the half. Harper's jumper was able to pull Richmond even temporarily at 15-all with 8:37 left before Moore answered with back-to- back three-pointers for the Owls. TU took a 29-25 advantage into the locker room.

Game Notes

Temple improved to 52-19 all-time in the A-10 Tournament...The Owls became 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...Temple is now 9-7 in the all-time series versus Richmond.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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