Temple University Athletics
GREER LEADS OWLS PAST SAINT JOSEPH'S IN DOUBLE-OVERTIME THRILLER
3.4.02 | Men's Basketball
The hard-fought victory gives Temple (15-13, 12-4 A-10) the outright title of the Atlantic 10 East and a No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, scheduled to open on Wednesday at the First Union Spectrum. The Owls will bye to the quarterfinal round, where they will play at 7:05 p.m. on Thursday (Mar. 7) versus the winner of a first-round match between La Salle and Fordham. Saint Joseph's (18-10, 12-4), the second seed in the East, will play the winner of the first-round match between Dayton and Rhode Island.
It all went Saint Joe's way in the first half, as the Hawks rolled to a 41-25 lead at the break. Marvin O'Connor, who failed to score in the first half when the Hawks were defeated by Temple at the Liacouras Center, 82-72 on Feb. 2, led the way with 14 points. His steal and break-away dunk at the 4:10 mark gave Saint Joseph's a 31-21 lead, and his three-pointer less than a minute later bumped it to 34-21. With just under a minute left in the half, his short-range jumper put the Hawks up 38-25. Jameer Nelson closed the half with three-pointer at the horn. In the half, the Owls shot a woeful 1-13 from three-point range, were out-rebounded 22-17 and committed six turnovers.
Temple appeared to be a new team after the intermission. The Owls opened the second half with a 19-6 run to close to within 47-46 at the 10:40 mark. From that point on, it was a true Philadelphia Big 5, roll-up-your-sleeves dogfight. Saint Joseph's responded with a 9-3 run and took a 56-49 lead at the 7:12 mark on a field goal by Bill Phillips. The Owls countered with a three-pointer by Alex Wesby at the 6:48 mark, followed by seven unanswered points from Greer, that finally gave Temple its first lead since the game's opening minute, 59-56, at the 3:22 mark.
Consecutive three-pointers by Nelson at 1:54 and 0:52, sandwiched around two free throws by David Hawkins, put Saint Joseph's up, 65-64. Tyrone Barley connected on a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to play, setting the stage for Greer's first miracle shot. The three-pointer from the right wing under Barley's heavy defensive pressure not only sent the game into overtime, it put Greer over 2,000 points for his remarkable Temple career. With a game-high 36 points on the day, Greer ran his five-year total to 2,015, joining Mark Macon (2,609, 1987-91) as the only two Owls over the milestone.
Temple appeared to have the game in control in the first overtime, scoring the first five points on a three-pointer by Greer and a two-pointer by Alex Wesby. But the Hawks stormed back, and sent the game into a second extra period on Phillips' straight-away trey with six seconds remaining. The second overtime started much the same, with the Owls scoring the first four points on a Kevin Lyde tip-in and two free throws by Greer. After an exchange of baskets, Nelson pulled Saint Jose's even at 84 on a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Greer drove the length of the floor, momentarily lost the ball on the left wing, regained it and then worked to the baseline for the winning shot, on which he was fouled. His free throw produced the 87-84 final.
Along with Greer, Hawkins (20) and Wesby (18) were double-digit scorers for the Owls. Lyde played tremendous in the post, hauling down a game-high 14 rebounds, making two blocks and adding eight points. O'Connor paced a balanced Saint Joseph's scoring attack with 21 points, while Na'im Crenshaw added 19, Nelson 17 and Phillips 15. The Owls shot 53.8 percent from the field in the second half, including 6-of-12 from three-point range. Temple also finished with a 50-42 rebounding advantage.
