March 5, 2011

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - The La Salle men's basketball team has earned the tenth seed in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament and will visit #7 St. Bonaventure on Tuesday at 5 PM, it was announced on Saturday evening by the league office. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS College Sports.

Xavier claimed the No. 1 seed for the upcoming tournament finishing the regular season with an overall record of 24-6 and 15-1 in the A-10. Temple (24-6, 14-2 A-10) clinched the No. 2 seed, while Richmond (24-7, 13-3 A-10) earned the No. 3 seed. Duquesne finished as the No. 4 seed with an overall record of 18-11 and 10-6 in the A-10.

Duquesne and George Washington finished in a tie for fourth place with identical 10-6 league records, but the Dukes earned the tiebreaker defeating the Colonials 84-59 in their only meeting in Pittsburgh back on February 2.

By virtue of earning one of the top four seeds, Xavier, Temple, Richmond and Duquesne have all earned a first round bye and will await their opponent in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament which begins Friday, March 11 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

The remaining seeds for this year's Championship include No. 5 George Washington (17-13, 10-6), No. 6 Rhode Island (18-12, 9-7), No. 7 St. Bonaventure (16-13, 8-8), No. 8 Massachusetts (15-14, 7-9), No. 9 Dayton (19-12, 7-9), No. 10 La Salle (14-17, 6-10), No. 11 Saint Louis (12-18, 6-10) and No. 12 Saint Joseph's (9-21, 4-12).

Massachusetts earned the tiebreaker over Dayton with a head-to-head victory back on January 9 (UMass 55-50) and La Salle had the tiebreaker advantage over Saint Louis as the Explorers defeated the Billikens 78-77 in their only meeting back on February 9.

First round action of the 2011 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship begins on Tuesday, March 8 and will be hosted on the campuses of the teams seeded fifth through eighth - No. 5 George Washington, No. 6 Rhode Island, No. 7 St. Bonaventure and No. 8 Massachusetts.

CBS College Sports Network will air three of the first round games beginning at 5:00 p.m. with La Salle at St. Bonaventure, followed at 7:00 p.m. with Saint Joseph's at George Washington and then Dayton at Massachusetts at 9:00 p.m. The fourth and final first round game featuring Saint Louis at Rhode Island will tip at 7:00 p.m. This marks the first time in league history that three of the first round games of the conference championship will be shown on national television.

The setting for the Championship then shifts to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., as the quarterfinal round commences at Noon on Friday, March 11, with Xavier facing the winner of the #8/9 game (Massachusetts/Dayton), followed by #4 Duquesne versus #5/12 seed (George Washington/Saint Joseph's) at 2:30 p.m. Temple tips off the evening session of the quarterfinals on Friday beginning at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of the #7/10 (St. Bonaventure/La Salle) game. Richmond will conclude the quarterfinal action on Friday at 9:00 p.m. versus the #6/11 (Rhode Island/Saint Louis) winner. All four quarterfinal games will be televised as part of CBS College Sports Network's syndicated package.

Semifinal action will take place on Saturday, March 12 with tip times scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and will air live on CBS College Sports Network. The A-10 Championship game will be played on Sunday, March 13, and televised live nationally at 1:00 p.m. on CBS Sports.

Tickets can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 800-736-1420.

For complete coverage of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.com, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

2011 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship
Tuesday, March 8
First Round - Campus Sites
#10 La Salle at #7 St. Bonaventure - 5:00 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)
#12 Saint Joseph's at #5 George Washington - 7:00 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)
#11 Saint Louis at #6 Rhode Island - 7:00 p.m.
#9 Dayton at #8 Massachusetts - 9:00 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Friday, March 11
Quarterfinals - Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, N.J.
Game 5 - #1 Xavier vs. #8/#9 winner - 12:00 p.m. (CBSC Syndication)*
Game 6 - #4 Duquesne vs. #5/#12 winner - 2:30 p.m. (CBSC Syndication)*
Game 7 - #2 Temple vs. #7/#10 winner - 6:30 p.m. (CBSC Syndication)*
Game 8 - #3 Richmond vs. #6/#11 winner - 9:00 p.m. (CBSC Syndication)*

Saturday, March 12
Semifinals - Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, N.J.
Game 9 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 1:00 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)
Game 10 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner - 3:30 p.m. (CBS College Sports Network)

Sunday, March 14
Finals - Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, N.J.
Game 11 - Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10 - 1:00 p.m. (CBS)

*CBSC Syndication - Coverage syndicated by CBS College Sports Network. Check local listings.