Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO THE FLYERS, 57-49, AT THE LIACOURAS CENTER
1.25.03 | Men's Basketball
The large rebounding deficit allowed Dayton to overcome 17 turnovers, 11 more than host Temple.
Once again, Temple dug an early hole for itself, falling behind 11-2 less than four minutes into the contest. A pair of Sean Finn free throws gave the Flyers a 13-5 advantage with 15:16 to play in the first half. It would be the last points that the visitors would score for nearly nine minutes, as Temple raced out to a 17-13 lead on a David Hawkins three-pointer with 6:40 remaining before the break. A Hawkins layup with :09 seconds on the clock provided the last points of the initial stanza as Temple entered the locker room at the midpoint with a 24-21 edge.
Dayton struggled from the field in the first half, shooting just 34.8 (8-23) percent. Temple didn't perform much better, depositing 37 (10-27) percent of its attempts.
Unfortunately for Temple fans, the Flyers' shooting problems failed to continue after the break, as the visitors made 63.2 (12-19) percent of their second half shots. After Maurice Collins opened the post intermission scoring to give TU a 26-21 lead, Dayton scored 23 of the contest's next 31 points to take a 44-34 advantage with 8:25 showing on the clock. The Flyers never looked back, taking their largest lead of the game, 11 points, on a Keith Waleskowski jumper to register a 53-42 score with 3:04 remaining.
Mark Jones scored 17 points to lead four Flyers in double digits, including Brooks Hall who racked up 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Hawkins scored a game-high 23 points for Temple, which had won two straight entering the game. Alex Wesby added 12 points. Wesby now needs just 16 points to become the 40th Owl in the history of the program to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Temple returns to the hardwood next Saturday in a 2:00 p.m. contest versus Saint Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y.
