Opportunity awaits Saint Joseph's in Atlantic 10 Tournament

The best thing about a postseason tournament is that the records no longer matter. It is a new opportunity, even for teams that did not come close to expectations during the regular season.

Saint Joseph's gets a second chance tonight at Rhode Island in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Hawks (11-19, 5-11 A-10) slipped into the 12th and last spot in the tournament when they beat La Salle on Saturday. URI (21-8, 9-7) faded a bit down the stretch, losing five of seven.

But the Rams were as good at home as the Hawks were bad on the road. URI was 13-2 at home. SJU was 1-11 on the road. When the Hawks played at URI on Jan. 13, it was 101-74 and not at all pretty.

That is the history. The present is that the Hawks are trying for their third three-game winning streak of the season. If they get the upset, they will play Saint Louis in the A-10 quarters on Friday afternoon at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The Rams are playing for more than just a chance to get to Atlantic City. The at-large pool is so weak that, even with the recent fade, URI is still alive for one of those precious 34 berths. If they win a few games in the A-10 Tournament and there are not too many upset winners in the conference tournaments, URI could still find its way into the field.

St. Joe's is going to have to win the A-10 Tournament, which means a team that has not won more than three straight games would have to win four games between tonight and Sunday.

There are three other A-10 first-round games tonight. Duquesne is at St. Bonaventure. The winner will get No. 1 seed Temple on Friday at noon. George Washington is at Dayton. The winner gets Xavier in Friday night's first game. Massachusetts is at Charlotte. That winner gets Richmond in Friday night's second game.

Longtime University of Dayton radio analyst Arlen "Bucky" Bockhorn has been tabbed the recipient of the 2010 Bob Vetrone Atlantic 10 Media Award in voting conducted by the league's sports information directors.

Now in his 41st season providing color commentary of Dayton men's basketball for WHIO, Bockhorn is a 1958 graduate of Dayton with a degree in education. He enjoyed a standout playing career at Dayton and is a member of the school's Hall of Fame and All-Century team. Bockhorn also played seven seasons for the NBA's Cincinnati Royals. *