After Dawn Staley’s crew came up short in their quest for a fourth Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament championship Monday, the second-seeded men’s basketball team will begin their A-10 journey tonight with a quarterfinal match-up against No. 7 La Salle.

The Explorers, who beat Duquesne in their first round tango last night, were smashed by visiting Temple only five days ago, to the tune of 85-66.

Along with the five other remaining teams (Top-seeded Xavier won earlier this afternoon and No. 5 Saint Joseph’s essentially has all but finished off No. 4 Richmond), Temple will be vying for the A-10 Championship and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Even the experts aren’t sure of how many at-large bids the A-10 will receive, so winning the tourney may be the only way the Owls can guarantee themselves a chance to Dance.

Check out The Temple News Web site later tonight for complete coverage of the La Salle-Temple game.

In the meantime, read: “Christmas runs through March,” “A significant leap,” and “Sizing up the field” 

Also read TTN reporter Jeff Appelblatt’s column on the women’s basketball team: “A chance for success for as long as Dawn rises” 

Read the rest of TTN’s A-10 Men’s Tournament coverage, here.

(Photo from TTN archives)