When it comes to winning in Atlantic City, N.J., Temple appears to have a monopoly.
The No. 24 Owls seek to reach the Atlantic 10 tournament final for the fourth consecutive season when they face Richmond on Saturday in a rematch of last year's title game.
Winner of the last three tournament titles, Temple rolled to its 10th consecutive win at Boardwalk Hall on Friday, beating Philadelphia rival La Salle 96-76 in a quarterfinal matchup.
"What we do, every time, is respect the game, respect the opponent and respect each possession," coach Fran Dunphy said. "I don't think it's anything special about being here in Atlantic City. I love this team, they've showed great resiliency. We're in a good place."
Dunphy's Owls (25-6) won with a balanced effort. Ramone Moore led the way with 23 points, Khalif Wyatt added 20, Juan Fernandez had 19, Lavoy Allen finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Aaron Brown added 14 points.
However, the biggest key to the victory may have been ball control. The Owls forced 22 turnovers while giving the ball away only six times.
"Temple is as good a defensive team as there is," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "It's unbelievable. They just do things right. They have good players, but their whole is greater than the sum of their parts."
Richmond (25-7) wouldn't likely disagree. Temple defeated the Spiders 56-52 in last year's conference title game. A rematch earlier this season wasn't nearly as close, as the Owls rolled to a 73-53 home win Feb. 17.
Moore had 24 points and Fernandez added 20 on 9-of-10 shooting as Temple shot 55.6 percent from the field.
"I thought they played great and we played poorly," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "That's a bad combination."
The Owls have won 11 of 12 overall with the lone exception a 78-61 loss at then-No. 1 Duke on Feb. 23, but Mooney's Spiders are also on a roll entering this matchup. They've won a season-high five straight since the loss to Temple, limiting opponents to 55.8 points per game.
Richmond had one of its finest defensive efforts in Friday's quarterfinals, beating Rhode Island 55-45. The Spiders held the Rams to 36.5 percent shooting, helping overcome their own 32.1 percent effort. The 45 points were the fewest allowed by Richmond against a conference opponent this season.
Senior guard Kevin Anderson led the Spiders with 21 points while forward Justin Harper, also a senior, added 12 with 13 rebounds. Anderson and Harper scored 15 and 14, respectively, last month at Temple.
The winner of this matchup will face Dayton or Saint Joseph's in Sunday's final.
