Temple University Athletics
ST. BONAVENTURE PINS FIRST ATLANTIC 10 LOSS ON THE OWLS, 93-74
1.17.02 | Men's Basketball
The Bonnies (11-5, 3-2) led from wire to wire and recorded the largest margin of victory over the Owls in the history of the series. Temple (6-9, 3-1) saw a barrage of three-pointers thrown at them from beginning to end. St. Bonaventure set a school record for the most three-point field goals made in a game with 19, while junior guard Patricio Prato tied an SBU individual record with eight field goals from beyond the arc.
On the strength of consecutive three-point field goals by Prato, the Bonnies raced out to a 10-2 lead and expanded it to 27-11 by the 11:19 mark of the first half. Of those 27 points, 21 came from beyond the arc. The Owl defense had no answer for stopping the Bonnies' wide-open offense. When Prato wasn't hitting, senior guard J.R. Bremer, who came into the game as the nation's third-leading scorer, took over. His seven first-half field goals gave him 19 points at the break, as the Bonnies knocked down 19 first-half field goals.
As a team, St. Bonaventure shot 52.8 percent (19-36) from the field in the first half, including a 48 percent (13-27) performance from three-point range. Temple sophomore guard David Hawkins did all he could to try and keep the Owls in the game by totalling 14 first-half points on 7-for-11 shooting. Hawkins, who finished with a career-high 25 points, drained a three pointer to open the second half, cutting the Bonnies' lead to 12. From there, the home team went on a 10-2 run to take a commanding 63-43 lead with 15:28 remaining in the contest.
But the Owls rallied for one more run. Senior Lynn Greer, who scored in double-figures (18 points) for the 34th consecutive game, scored eight points, while center Kevin Lyde added four as the Owls cut the deficit to 68-58 with 9:46 remaining. At that point, the Owls ran out of gas. Over the next 5:44, the Bonnies mounted a 17-2 run as Prato once again connected on back-to-back treys to settle the issue. Although it was Bremer and Prato who reaped the accolades, it was the smallest man on the court who silently led his team to victory. Marques Green, the 5-7 Bonnies point guard, recorded a double-double, with 13 points and 10 assists.
The Owls continue their two-game road swing with a nationally televised ESPN match against Massachusetts at the Mullins Center in Amherst on Saturday at 12:00 noon.
