Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYS ITS BEST BALL ON CHANEY'S B-DAY, POSTING 73-69 WIN OVER PENN
1.21.04 | Men's Basketball
Senior David Hawkins played like a man possessed in leading the Owls. Normally a one-man show, Hawkins started the game by involving his teammates - dishing four assists in the first eight minutes - and ended it with another game-high scoring effort (26 points). He now has scored 20-or-more points in nine straight games, tying Mark Macon (1989-90) and Terence Stansbury (1982-83) for the longest such streak in the Chaney Era.
Hawkins ended the game with a career-high-tying eight assists. The Washington, DC native also led the team in rebounding with eight and steals with five.
Sophomore Mardy Collins also came with his "A" game, tallying 18 points on six-of-16 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. It was his best performance since a 22-point effort at Rutgers in the season's third game and follows a 16-point effort against Richmond.
The offense, which has struggled all season, was working extremely well throughout the contest against Penn's pressure man-to-man. Temple shot a season-high 44.4 percent from the field and tallied a season-high in points. The Owls also matched their low output for turnovers with five, and their assist total (11) was the most since a season-high 13 at South Carolina on December 15.
Temple also extended its win streak to 27 games when it shoots better than its opponent. The last time the Owls lost when out-shooting an opponent was January 23, 2002, a 75-68 defeat to Richmond.
The game was a typical Big Five battle, with neither team opening up more than a six-point lead until the final two minutes of play.
The first half featured seven lead changes and four ties. Penn ripped Temple's famed match-up zone for eight-of-17 three-pointers with sharpshooters Jeff Schiffner (3-4) and Tim Begley (3-6) accounting for six of the treys. The Owls unselfish play and an 11-point outburst by Hawkins over a four-minute stretch, counteracted the Quakers perimeter attack.
Hawkins, however, picked up two fouls in a three second span with Temple leading 28-25 at the 4:45 mark, and took a seat on the bench for the rest of the stanza. The Owls would only score one basket, a sensational Dustin Salisbery reverse lay-up at the four-minute mark, and entered the locker room trailing 34-32.
An Antywane Robinson three-pointer, his first of the season, lifted Temple to a 35-34 lead at the start of the second half. Begley and Charlie Copp answered with trifectas of their own to give the Quakers their biggest lead, 40-35. Temple tied the game at 47 with a Collins' jumper in the paint off a pass from Robinson with 12:15 remaining and took a lead they would not relinquish, 49-47, on two Hawkins' free throws.
Penn would tie the contest twice more, but an 8-0 run with the Owls hitting six-of-six from the line, would make it 70-61 with 57 seconds remaining. All that was left was the final score.
Besides Hawkins and Collins, Salisbery (11 points) and Robinson, who tallied a season-high eight points, contributed solid efforts. Keith Butler, who has been fighting bronchitis the past two weeks, played 36 minutes and chipped in five rebounds, four points and three blocks.
Begley led four Penn players in double figures with 22 points. The Quakers also received a career-high eight assists from Schiffner (14 pts.) while Mark Zoller added a double-double (12 pts., 11 rebs.). Penn, 7-6, 1-3 in Big Five, knocked down 14 three-pointers for the game, but hit just six-of-21 (28.6%) from long-range in the second half.
Temple, 6-8, 1-1 in Big Five, next plays at UMass on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. A national television (ESPN2) audience will be watching as Coach Chaney goes for win #700.
