by Eric Watkins

In the Semi-Finals of the San Juan Tourney in Puerto Rico, #5 ranked Villanova held off a late surge by the #18 ranked Dayton Flyers to win 71-65. Villanova advances to the Championship game which will tip-off at 8:00 PM on Sunday and be televised on ESPN2. The Cats will face the winner of tonight's game between Ole Miss and Kansas State. Villanova played better offensively than during the opening game of the tournament against George Mason. The ball-handling, passing and FT shooting were all improved. However, the team still struggled shooting the ball from the field. Despite these difficulties, 'Nova defended and rebounded well enough to surge to an 18 point lead nearing the mid-way point of the second half. At that point the Flyers began to knock down some deep threes and cut the lead to as little as two points. Clutch free-throw shooting and defense down the stretch sealed the Wildcat victory. [details]