Temple University Athletics
BUTLER LEADS LA SALLE PAST OWLS, 71-67
2.13.02 | Men's Basketball
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Temple (10-13, 7-4 Atlantic 10) and derailed what appeared to be another of the Owls' patented late-season surges under Head Coach John Chaney. Thanks to a win by Richmond over St. Joseph's, Temple remained two games behind the Hawks in the East Division of the Atlantic 10 Conference. However, St. Bonaventure's win over Massachusetts moved the Bonnies to within a half game of the Owls for second place in the divisional race. For La Salle (11-14, 4-8), it was a sweet Philadelphia Big 5 and A-10 Conference victory. First-year head coach Billy Hahn not only won his first meeting with the vaunted Owls, his Explorers snapped a 10-game Temple victory string in the series, marking La Salle's first win over their cross-town rival since January 23, 1992.
Although the Owls failed to break it open, Temple held the lead until the final four minutes of the game. In the first half, the Owls shook off a sluggish start to take 6-point lead on Lynn Greer's first field goal at the 13:30 mark. A close-range jumper by Butler tied the score at 25-25 with 5:50 left in the period before Temple finally asserted itself with a 10-point run. A steal by Greer that led to a three-pointer by Alex Wesby at the 4:46 mark ignited the rally. A three-pointer by Greer and a two-pointer by Wesby followed. Brian Polk's steal and lead pass for a David Hawkins dunk put the Owls up, 35-25, with 1:56 left in the half. After a pair of free throws by Mike Cleaves pulled La Salle back to within eight, a Hawkins drive put the Owls ahead 37-27 at intermission.
The Owls registered their largest lead of the game at 12 (46-34) with 16:02 left on a three-pointer by Wesby. But La Salle hung tough. A lay-up by Kevin Lyde at the 10:41 mark and a pair of free throws by Polk with 9:58 to play gave the Owls their final double-digit leads at 54-44 and 56-46, respectively. A three-pointer by Greer at the 7:06 mark gave Temple a 59-50 lead, but the Owls went cold and Butler came to life, netting 12 of his game-high 25 points over the next 2:33. Two made free throws by Julian Blanks at the 1:39 mark ran the La Salle lead to 66-59, but the Owls scrambled back. A lay-up by Greer at 1:22, a three-pointer by Greer at the 44 second mark and three free throws by Hawkins with 22 seconds left pulled the Owls to within 68-67, but it was as close as they would get. After Blanks made two more foul shots, Temple had a chance to tie in the final 19 seconds, but Hawkins' three-point attempt rattled out.
Butler added a game-high 10 rebounds to his scoring total for a superb double-double. Blanks added 17 and Jeff Farmer 14 for the winners. Hawkins was the leading scorer for Temple with 23, while Greer added 17 and Wesby 16. Temple shot 39.7 percent (25-63) for the game, but was off target in a frustrating second half, connecting on just 10-of-31 field-goal attempts (32.3%) with the game on the line. The Owls committed just five turnovers to La Salle's 13, but were soundly out-rebounded, 42-31.
