Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL WINS 78-77 THRILLER OVER ST. BONAVENTURE AT THE LIACOURAS CENTER
3.1.03 | Men's Basketball
Four Owls registered double-digit scoring totals, led by juniors David Hawkins and Brian Polk, who each deposited 19 points. Freshman Maurice Collins added 16 points and senior Alex Wesby contributed 14. Temple has had four or more players score in double-digits in five straight games.
SBU's bench out-scored the Temple bench 19-0 in a tightly contested first half that saw six lead changes and three ties. Bonnies' sixth-man Mike Gansey led all scorers prior to the break with 13 points. A Hawkins' layup registered a 20-13 score at the 11:17 mark to give the Owls their largest lead of the opening stanza. The visitors responded by going on a 13-4 run to take a 26-24 edge after a Joe Shepherd three-pointer with 7:26 on the clock. The Owls deposited 13 of the final 20 first half points to take a 37-33 lead into the locker room.
After the midpoint, Temple extended its lead to 16 points when Collins hit a fast break basket to tally a 53-37 score with 14:49 remaining. The Owls' lead lingered at 10 points or better until a Patricio Prato trey brought the Bonnies to within eight, 63-55, at 8:18. A Marques Green basket two minutes later dwindled the Temple advantage to three points (67-64) and the formerly content home crowd of 6,102 grew restless. The Owls responded to the challenge, going on a 7-2 run to gain a 74-66 buffer with 4:06 on the clock. SBU was determined to make things interesting, however and scored the game's next eight points to tie the contest at 74 after a Gansey three-pointer with 1:13 remaining.
A Collins jumper and a pair of Prato free throws tied the game again at 76 with 42 seconds on the clock. A Hawkins jumper with eight seconds remaining gave TU a 78-76 lead before Green stepped to the free throw line with two shots and a chance to tie the contest with four seconds to go. After making his first attempt, Green missed the second after Temple called its final timeout to ice the shooter. SBU fouled on the rebound and Polk walked the floor to the opposite charity stripe, where he missed both free throws with three seconds remaining. The Bonnies had one last chance to win, but a mid-court shot at the buzzer was off the mark.
Temple shot 47.6 percent (30-63) from the field while Saint Bonaventure deposited 44.4 percent (28-63) of its shots. The Bonnies' bench out-scored the Owls' bench 36-4, largely due to the performance of Gansey, who led all scorers with 21 points. Green posted a double-double for the visitors, posting 16 points while dishing out 10 assists.
NOTE: Temple is two games ahead of both Rhode Island and Saint Bonaventure with two games to play on the conference schedule. The Owls hold the head-to-head tie-breaker with both teams, having won both home and away meetings with the Rams and Bonnies this season. A decision, however, is still pending from the league regarding Saint Bonaventure's alleged use of an ineligible player earlier this season. If it is ruled that the Bonnies need to forfeit prior victories, Rhode Island could pick up an additional win, placing them one game behind the Owls for the coveted second-place seed with two games to play.
