Joe Dzuback of Villanova By The Numbers is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Standings (as of 12/9/09):

1. Richmond (8-1)
2. Charlotte (7-1)
3. George Washington (6-1)
4. Rhode Island (6-1)
5. Temple (7-2)
6. Duquesne (6-2)
7. Dayton (6-2)
8. La Salle (5-2)
9. Xavier (5-3)
10. St. Louis (5-3)
11. St. Bonaventure (4-3)
12. Massachusetts (4-5)
13. Saint Joseph’s (3-4)
14. Fordham (2-5)

Changes.   Change is in the air throughout the Atlantic 10 Conference very early this season.  Xavier, Dayton and Temple have all hit early road bumps in their out of conference (OOC) schedules — each has already logged a second loss.  Charlotte, Rhode Island and Richmond on the other hand, have been strong coming out of the gate, Richmond’s early season loss to William & Mary notwithstanding.  La Salle has had the strongest start in several seasons.  St. Bonaventure logged a couple of strong outings…before their rendezvous with Mississippi State.  And Fordham departed from long precedent by “releasing” 7th year head coach Dereck Whittenburg five games into their season. For Saint Joseph’s and Massachusetts however, change has not been a good thing.  Coach Phil Martelli may have finally found his guards, and Coach Derek Kellogg may have his athletic wings, but they are all very, very young.

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Joseph Dzuback of Villanova by the Numbers is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic 10 Conference.

1. George Washington (4-0)
2. St. Louis (4-0)
3. Rhode Island (3-0)
4. Charlotte (4-1)
5. Duquesne (4-1)
6. Richmond (4-1)
7. La Salle (3-1)
8. Temple (3-1)
9. Xavier (3-1)
10. St. Bonaventure (2-1)
11. St. Joseph’s (3-2)
12. Dayton (2-2)
13. Massachusetts (2-2)
14. Fordham (1-3)

Games of Note

The First Big Test. November 17th saw seven A10 teams in action with four teams — Charlotte, Duquesne, St. Bonaventure and Temple  — going against BCS schools. The results were…mixed. Surviving the night 4-3, the conference was 2-2 in squeakers and 2-1 in the blowouts — games decided by 10 or more points.

• St. Bonaventure camethisclose to knocking off St. John’s of the Big East on a neutral court (Rochester, NY). The Bonnies’ Andrew Nicholson took to the free throw line with 0:11 and gave St. Bonaventure a 1-point lead when he hit both free throws. The Johnnies’ Malik Boothe answered at the other end by hitting two FTs of his own on a Chris Matthews foul with 0:06 left. Michael Davenport’s three at the end did not drop, leaving St. Bonaventure on the short end of a 69-68 score.
• Temple nearly housed the Big East’s Georgetown before bowing 46-45. Down 15-27 with 16:58 to play, the Owls launched a 17-4 run to take the lead, 32-31, at the 12:12 mark of the second half. The Owls had another 7-2 spurt to push their lead to 39-33 with 6:53 remaining. Georgetown responded with a run of their own, overtaking the Owls to regain the lead, 41-39, with 5:12 left. Greg Monroe converted the go-ahead layup. The teams stayed within 2 points of each other, jockeying back-and-forth with the lead for the last 5 minutes. Temple forward Levoy Allen converted a layup of his own at the 4:31 mark to put the Owls back on top. Temple nursed that lead to the last minute, forcing the Hoyas to foul, stop the clock and put the Owls on the line to win. Ramone Moore missed the font end of a one-and-one at 0:23, giving the Hoyas the opening they needed to take the lead one last time. Hoya sophomore Greg Monroe converted another layup at the 0:04 mark.

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