Atlantic City, NJ -- (Sports Network) - Dionte Christmas scored a game-high 22 points and Ryan Brooks added 15 as Temple defeated Saint Joseph's, 69-64, in the Atlantic-10 Final at Boardwalk Hall, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament field of 65.

Chris Clark chipped in with 10 points, while Lavoy Allen had eight points and seven rebounds for second-seeded Temple (21-12), which defeated La Salle and Charlotte en route to reaching the title game and ultimately earning its first NCAA berth since 2001.

"I can't say I have a lot of things to say other than I'm very happy and appreciative for these student athletes that we have," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy. "This is just one of those teams that has great chemistry to it; they like one another. It just kind of came together."

Ahmad Nivins led Saint Joseph's (21-12) with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Pat Calathes donated 14 and Tasheed Carr 13. The fifth-seeded Hawks beat Fordham and Richmond before knocking off top-seeded Xavier in the semifinals Saturday, but now must wait until Selection Sunday to learn their NCAA Tournament fate.

With Saint Joseph's holding onto a 32-25 lead after one half of play, Temple came out of the locker room for the second and ran off a 14-2 burst, taking a 39-34 lead after Clark nailed a three-pointer, followed by a layup.

The Owls continued to play front runner, as Christmas' triple made it a 48-39 game with 11:03 left. But the Hawks weren't about to go quietly, as Saint Joe's got a fast break layup by Carr to make it a 58-55 game with 4:36 left.

Temple had an answer however, as the Owls responded when Mark Tyndale made a layup and a free throw and Christmas's lay-in opened the advantage to 63-55 with 3:21 remaining. The Hawks cut it to four, and though the Owls struggled from the charity stripe down the stretch, they held on for the victory.

Tyndale finished with eight points and nine boards for the Owls, who won their seventh all-time A-10 crown.

Saint Joseph's got out of the gate quickly, grabbing a 12-5 lead after Darrin Govens nailed a jumper 14:54 into the contest. Temple them clawed its way back to make it a 17-15 near the midway point of the opening half.

However, a layup by Govens gave the Hawks a 25-15 edge with 6:16 left, and they held a 32-25 lead heading into the intermission.

Game Notes

Temple shot 43.8 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three-point range, while the Hawks made 42.6 percent of their shots, but only 23.8 percent from beyond the arc...Temple is now 82-64 all-time against Saint Joseph's.