Owls Throw Musketeers Overboard

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Mark Karcher scored 19 points as No. 24 Temple beat

Xavier 59-40 on a snowy Tuesday night at the Forum.

Xavier (11-7, 2-4 Atlantic 10), coming off a 31-point home loss to La Salle,

has dropped four straight games for the second time in coach Skip Prosser's

seven seasons. The Musketeers, who beat No. 1 Cincinnati last month, shot 24

percent and hit only 7 of 27 3-point shots.

Pepe Sanchez, in his eighth game back from an ankle injury, had nine points,

eight assists, eight rebounds and three steals for Temple (13-4, 6-1), which

won its 17th straight home game.

Darnell Williams scored 15 points, and Lloyd Price had 14 for Xavier, which

hadn't lost four straight since its first year in the Atlantic 10 in 1995-96.

Lamont Barnes and Quincy Wadley each scored 11 for the Owls.

Sanchez, the Owls' steady point guard, had two assists and four turnovers

in the first half but committed no turnovers in the second half. He shot

1-for-7 from the field. Temple, which shot 37 percent, has won three straight

and seven of eight.

The Owls went on a 22-4 run spanning the first and second halves, building

the lead to 36-22 on Wadley's 3-pointer with 16:36 left.

Lynn Greer's 3-pointer made it 46-30 with 9:11 left, but Xavier scored the next eight points.

Maurice McAfee hit a 3-pointer, Price a driving layup and Kevin Frey a 3-pointer to cut it to

46-38 with 4:27 left.

Temple sealed it with a 9-0 run, getting a basket and 3-pointer from Wadley, a driving jumper

from Karcher and two free throws from Sanchez to make it 55-38 with 1:36 to play.

Some 3,500 fans braved a snowstorm that battered the East Coast. Not counted among them

were Temple athletic department officials Scott Cathcart and Bob Lange, who were pressed into

duty at the scorer's table because only a skeleton staff made it to the game.

Temple led 23-19 at halftime amid atrocious shooting by both teams. Xavier was 7-for-33, and

Temple 7-for-25. Only six players scored in the first half _ three for each team.

It was so bad that Xavier was 2-for-15 with nine turnovers in the first 8 1/2 minutes and yet only

trailed 6-4. It appeared for a while that the teams might challenge the A-10's record for fewest

points in a game, 29 by Rutgers against St. Bonaventure in 1982.

Temple University Athletics