Temple University Athletics
Penn State Slips by Temple 66-60
12.9.00 | Men's Basketball
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Temple shut down Penn State scoring threat Joe Crispin, but another player rose up in his place.
Penn state guard Titus Ivory scored 21 points and had 10 assists as Penn State defeated Temple 66-60 on Saturday.
Tyler Smith had 13 points, and Jon and Joe Crispin had 12 points each for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State (5-1) won their third straight as Temple (4-5) dropped their fifth straight, marking the first time the Owls lost five straight under coach
John Chaney.
Despite limiting Joe Crispin's offensive contribution, several other Lions came up with crucial scores.
"We've got a collective group of guys who have been doing that all year," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "Joe's not going to score 20-plus
every night out."
The Owls led by as many as nine, but Penn State took control in the first half.
A steal and three-point play by Ivory tied the game at 21-21 with 6:56 remaining in the first half. Ivory suffered a scratched eye on the play, but
returned to sink his free throw.
"I couldn't focus," Ivory said. "I celebrated with one eye."
After the foul shot, Joe Crispin's long three capped the 11-0 run and gave the Lions their first lead since scoring the opening basket.
Temple took the lead on an Alex Wesby 3-pointer, but a Gyasi Cline-Heard layup tied the score at 34 apiece at halftime.
Penn State and Temple matched scores in the second half until Ivory sparked a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer with less than three minutes remaining. Penn
state then got scores from Smith and Jon Crispin to seal the win.
Chaney was pleased that his team stopped Crispin, who did not score in the second half. But he said the rest of the game plan did not fall into place.
"When you play against a great player like that," Chaney said, "you have to pick your poison. You stop one guy and hope the other players don't
score as well."
Temple's Kevin Lyde and David Hawkins kept the Owls in the game with 16 and 14 points apiece. But it was Penn State and its deep bench and
role players such as Smith that took advantage of open shots.
"People step up at different times," Ivory said. "It's different every game."
