Atlantic City, NJ -- (Sports Network) - Behind a game-high 29 points from Dionte Christmas and several clutch buckets by Chris Clark, the second-seeded Temple Owls knocked off the eighth-seeded La Salle Explorers, 84-75, in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Boardwalk Hall.

Mark Tyndale tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Owls (19-12), who move on to the semifinals to face sixth-seeded Charlotte Friday night at 9 p.m. Sergio Olmos also scored 14 points, and Clark finished with 12.

Rodney Green paced La Salle (15-17) with 20 points and seven assists. Darnell Harris was next in line with 18 points, followed by Yves Mekongo Mbala with 16, and Kimmani Barrett with 11.

Temple had the hot hand in the first half, as the Owls shot 55.6 percent from the floor and went 10-of-12 from the foul line to grab a 43-35 halftime lead.

Temple led by as many as 14 early in the second half, but the Explorers rallied back to tie the game at 59 with less than 10 minutes to play. The score was tied at 75 with 1:57 to play, until Clark put the Owls on his back by scoring six unanswered points to stake Temple a six-point lead with 36 seconds remaining.

The Owls collected only four offensive rebounds in the game, but it did not prove costly, as they shot 55.1 percent for the game.