Temple University Athletics
OWLS TAKE THIRD PLACE IN NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT BY DOWNING SYRACUSE, 65-54.
3.28.02 | Men's Basketball
The Owls, who at one time were 6-12 and going nowhere, won 13 out of their last 16 games to make the Temple faithful who never abandoned the team and saw two exciting games at Madison Square Garden very proud.
The Owls came out with a little more energy then Syracuse and opened up a 13-5 lead seven minutes into the contest. The Orangemen finally came to life and outscored the Owls 11-2 to take a 16-15 lead with 7:27 remaining in the first half.
The Owls then got a lift from junior Greg Jefferson, who scored six straight points as the Owls went up 21-18 with 2:40 left. Syracuse tightened up their defense and held the Owls scoreless the rest of the half while going on a 5-0 run to end the half up 23-21.
Both teams had trouble putting the ball in the basket, with each team making just one three-point basket in the first 20 minutes.
After Syracuse extended their lead to 30-26 to begin the second half, the Owls went on a 15-0 run as five different Owls scored during the run to take a 41-30 lead with 11:39 left. Following a timeout, the Orangemen came back with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 41-38 with 9:51 remaining.
Over the next 3:31, sophomore guard David Hawkins, who played exceptional at the point guard position in place of the injured Lynn Greer, scored 11 of the Owls next 13 points as Temple moved out to a 54-44 lead with 6:20 left.
The Owls kept the Orangemen at arms length and a Hawley Smith three-point basket with 2:44 left put the Owls comfortably out in front by 13 and Syracuse never got the lead under double-digits the rest of the way.
The Owls won the game at the foul line, connecting on 20-of-23 free throws, all in the second half, while Syracuse managed to convert only 8-of-21 at the line.
Hawkins paced the Owls with 20 points while Jefferson had his best game of the season scoring 14 points. Sophomore Brian Polk and senior Ron Rollerson, who played on a sprained right ankle, both added 10 points. Alex Wesby pulled down eight rebounds to go along with his 4 assists.
