GW gets Temple in friendly arena

CINCINATTI – The Colonials are 3-0 in the U.S. Bank Arena, where they will face Temple Thursday at noon in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. On March 11 last year, the Colonials topped Temple 77-58 in the semifinals of the A-10s, which they ended up winning for the first automatic bid in program history. The Colonials (26-1, 16-0 A-10) beat the Owls on Jan. 4 at the Liacorous Center in Philadelphia to start their 18-game winning streak.

In the teams’ first contest this year, sophomore Maureece Rice had 14 points in his hometown. Seniors Mike Hall and Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 12 points each. London native Mensah-Bonsu was limited due to a tweaked ankle he suffered in practice. This time, the Colonials will be without Mensah-Bonsu, as he is still out rehabilitating a torn meniscus.

Temple’s Mark Tyndale, who had 19 points and eight rebounds in a 74-45 win over Rhode Island Wednesday in the tournament’s first round, said playing GW is an accomplishment.

“They’ve beaten us the last few times,” Tyndale said. “We’ll play hard and try to get the win.”

Temple head coach John Chaney said hampering GW’s traditional style will be the key of the game.

“I just know they are filled with talent,” Chaney said after beating Rhode Island. “They have so many players that they can bring in and out, and they are all apples.”

Martelli doesn’t know

Phil Martelli, head coach of Saint Joseph’s, pleaded lack of knowledge Wednesday afternoon when asked about academically dubious preparatory schools in the Philadelphia area. The schools, some of which were attended by GW’s Rice and Omar Williams, have been the subjects of recent investigatory pieces in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Martelli said Wednesday that he has been living in Philadelphia his whole life and would not be able to bring someone to the schools in questions if he were given a million dollars.

-Jake Sherman