A-10 title up for grabs as Owls take on Spiders
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
03/14/2010 -
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gunning for their ninth Atlantic 10
Conference Tournament title, the third in as many seasons, the 17th-ranked and
top-seeded Temple Owls take the floor at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this
afternoon against third-seeded Richmond.
The Owls, who are attempting to become only the second team in the A-10 to
ever win three straight tourney titles after the five in a row posted by UMass
from 1992-96, haven't been truly challenged in this year's event. The squad
opened with a 69-51 defeat of eighth-seeded St. Bonaventure on Friday
afternoon in the quarterfinals and then moved on to a 57-44 victory against
Rhode Island on Saturday. With the triumphs, Temple is now 51-19 in the
tournament all-time.
As for the Spiders, currently an even 8-8 in this event since joining the
league, they have yet to bring home the trophy. Then again, this is just the
second trip to the title game for the program following a 72-60 loss to
Xavier back in 2002. Ironically, it was an 89-85 overtime victory against
those same Musketeers yesterday that propelled Richmond into the tournament
finale.
The Spiders have tied the school-record for the most wins in a single season
and have defeated four straight ranked opponents, with their eye on making it
five this afternoon in Atlantic City.
Of Temple's two conference losses this season, one was at the hands of the
Spiders in a 71-54 final in Virginia back on February 6th, the last time the
Owls also lost any outcome. As a result, the all-time series now numbers
8-7 in favor of Temple.
After getting to overtime against Xavier yesterday, the Spiders had little
trouble disposing of the Musketeers as they shot 4-of-5 from the floor and a
perfect 2-of-2 behind the three-point line and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe to
seal the deal. All-conference performer David Gonzalvez posted 26 points,
converting all but one of his 14 free-throw attempts, while adding five
assists and four rebounds. Just ahead of Gonzalvez in the scoring column was
Kevin Anderson, who logged a game-high 27 points as he made good on 10-of-21
shots from the field. Playing a significant role off the bench was Dan Geriot
with 11 points in a mere 16 minutes, while fellow reserve Francis Martel
tacked on 10 points and eight rebounds. Richmond, which has played three
overtime games in the last five outings overall, is led in scoring by Anderson
and his 17.9 ppg, having made more shots at the free-throw line (122-of-147)
than all but one of his teammates has attempted this season. Gonzalvez
accounts for another 14.7 ppg having made good on a team-best 73 three-point
attempts. The defense for the Spiders has held opponents to just 39.2 percent
shooting from the field, 29.3 percent out on the perimeter and 62.4 ppg
overall.
Sticking with the starters for as much as possible, the Owls had little worry
as they easily took care of Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon by double
figures. In fact, Temple ran out to a commanding 15-2 lead and never looked
back as the defense held URI to just seven total field goals in the first half
and 27.1 percent shooting from the floor overall in the contest. The Owls
themselves had some issues from the field in the second half with just five
field goals, but the squad hit on 12-of-20 at the free-throw line to keep
their distance. Ryan Brooks was responsible for 16 points, Juan Fernandez 14
and seven assists, while Lavoy Allen came up a point shy of logging another
double-double as he cleared a team-best 10 rebounds. Winners of nine in a row,
the Owls have had a different leading scorer in each of the last four outings,
a testament to the team's balanced scoring attack. Brooks tops the scoring
list with his 14.3 ppg, followed by Fernandez and Allen with 12,4 and 11.7
ppg, respectively. While the points can be evenly divided in any given
contest, Allen is easily the leader in the paint for Temple with his 10.9 rpg.
In fact, in the meeting last month against Richmond the big man was a beast in
the paint with not only 17 points, but also a game-high 19 rebounds.
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Why Sports Betting is so much fun?
Betting Sports
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Points (or Runs) Scored
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
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Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)
Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:
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Types of Bets
Straight Bet
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.
Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.
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Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.
Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.
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