By Mel Greenberg
PHILADELPHIA - The Atlantic Ten tossed in the towel Saturday afternoon, actually several of them, to plug a leaky roof at St. Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.
And with that move, action was expected to eventually get under way after at least an hour and a half delay, possibly more, involving four games that stood the chance of extending deep into Saturday night.
Temple, the top seed in the field, was slated to play eighth-seeded Richmond at noon.
However, the downpour that hit the area soon caused water to drip from the roof of Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, which is slated to undergo a major renovation after the tournament is completed.
During the delay, as St. Joseph's officials attempted to come up with solutions on the roof situation, Atlantic Ten officials were looking at possibilities to move at least the back end of the four-game schedule to another location.
La Salle was unavailable, while Temple, which had bid for the tournament, had events going on at both of its venues in the Liacouras Center and McGonigle Hall.
There was a chance, however, that McGonigle would be available later in the day. The final game, St. Joseph's vs,. Xavier, was set for 6 p.m. and a start of 9 p.m. would mean a short turnaround time before the winner of that game took the floor Sunday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals.
-- Mel
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