Duquesne bounces Rhode Island

ATLANTIC CITY - Damian Saunders had 20 points to lead Duquesne over Rhode Island yesterday, 78-74, in the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Bill Clark finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Aaron Jackson added 17 points for the Dukes (20-11), who advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1994.

Jimmy Baron had eight 3-pointers and finished with 26 points for the Rams (22-10), while Kahiem Seawright had 13 points and Keith Cothran and Will Martell each scored 10.

The teams traded baskets for most of the game, which saw 13 ties and seven lead changes. But Duquesne finally went ahead for good on Clark's 3-pointer with 3:30 left, which gave his team a 72-69 lead.

Xavier 66, Saint Louis 47 - B.J. Raymond had 18 points to lead the No. 19 Musketeers over the Billikens.

C.J. Anderson added 15 points and Jason Love had 10 for top-seeded Xavier (25-6). The Musketeers play Temple in the semifinals.

Kevin Lisch had 13 points to lead the Billikens (18-14), and Willie Reed added 10.

Xavier used a 14-0 run spanning halftime to take control. Raymond banked in a 30-footer at the first-half buzzer to cap a 7-0 spurt that gave the Musketeers a 35-25 lead.

Xavier then opened the second half by scoring the first 7 points to take a 42-25 lead with 17:30 left.

Saint Louis never got closer than 14 and finished 3 of 9 from the foul line.

Dayton 69, Richmond 64 - Marcus Johnson scored 15 points, including two 3-pointers during a crucial second-half stretch, to lead the third-seeded Flyers over the Spiders.

Luke Fabrizius had 11 points and Chris Johnson tallied 10 for Dayton (26-6), which plays Duquesne in a semifinal.

Kevin Anderson scored 24 points to lead Richmond (18-15). Kevin Butler also reached double figures for the Spiders with 13 points.

Dayton took its largest lead of the game when Paul Williams made a pair of free throws to put the Flyers ahead, 53-44, with 8:39 remaining.

Anderson's 3-pointer capped a 9-1 Richmond run that pulled the Spiders within 54-53 with 6:33 remaining.

But Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers as Dayton scored 8 of the next 9 to lead, 62-54.

Temple 79, Saint Joseph's 65 - Ryan Brooks had 19 points to lead four players in double figures and lift the Owls over the Hawks.

Sergio Olmos had 14 points and Semaj Inge and Craig Williams added 12 apiece for the Owls (20-11). Tasheed Carr matched his career high with 23 points and Ahmad Nivins had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Saint Joseph's (17-15).

The Owls led, 43-28, at halftime and stretched their advantage to 58-36 with 10:15 left. The Hawks got as close as 9 when Darrin Govens converted a layup to make it 65-56 with 4:31 remaining, but Lavoy Allen scored two straight baskets and the Owls maintained double-digit leads the rest of the way.