ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Before Friday afternoon's Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal

against No. 17 Temple, St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt stressed the importance of playing

with the lead.

His team never had one. The Owls (27-5) scored early in taking a 24-8 lead and stifled the

Bonnies' (15-16) inside game for a 69-51 victory at Boardwalk Hall.

"It was important for us to get off to a good start and try to keep it close,"

Schmidt said, "and we didn't do that."

Sophomore Bona forward Andrew Nicholson missed four shots in the game's first five

minutes, and senior guard Chris Matthews didn't hit his first three-pointer until just 6:16

remained in the first half. After combining for 53 points in the Bonnies' first-round victory

over Duquesne on Tuesday night, they managed only 22 in the quarterfinal, 13 by Nicholson.

The two-time defending conference champion Owls took a 12-point lead into the

break on sophomore guard Juan Fernandez' three first-half three-pointers and inside scoring

from forwards Lavoy Allen and Michael Eric.

Temple coach Fran Dunphy, concerned about a possible upset in the top-seeded Owls'

first game in the tournament, said, "We were worried about how [St. Bonaventure] would come

out and approach us. So, I think coming out and getting a good start on both ends of the court

really helped us."

Dunphy attributed his team's early effectiveness to Fernandez, who shot 6 for 10 from the

field and 4 for 5 from beyond the arc overall in totaling a game-high 17 points.

"Today, it was the three-point shot that got us started, but I think defense was important

in the win," Fernandez said.

The conference's top field goal percentage defense held St. Bonaventure to 35.8

percent shooting from the floor. A 13-4 run from the Bonnies cut the deficit to seven points

with 5:04 remaining in the first half, but they never got closer than 12 points after

halftime.

The Owls carved up the Bonnies' defense in the second half, shooting 56.5 percent

from the floor and committing just four second-half turnovers.

"When [Temple gets] you down, they're a tough team to come back on," Schmidt said.

"They take the air out of the ball. They control the tempo."

Schmidt said Temple's physical play limited the Bonnies' opportunities in the

paint.

"We wanted to go inside," he said. "We're better when we go inside-out, but

[Nicholson] missed some chippies. Then he started sliding out a little bit, which we didn't

want to do."

Nicholson finished with a team-high 13 points, but Schmidt said Allen and Eric

pressured him away from the basket.

"They beat up Andrew a little bit inside, and if we're going to win, we need him

to play well," Schmidt said.

Freshmen Demitrius Conger and Ogo Adegboye scored 10 points each for the Bonnies.

Allen and Eric also hit double figures for Temple, scoring 14 and 13 points,

respectively. But Schmidt pointed to the Owls' consistency throughout the lineup as a key

factor in their eight-game winning streak.

"They've got great role guys," he said. "It's not just Allen and Fernandez. You've

got to pay attention to Brooks, and I think Guzman is a great role guy for them."

Temple advanced to today's semifinal round against Rhode Island at 1 p.m. with its

13th consecutive win over St. Bonaventure and its seventh-straight win in A-10 tournament

play.