Temple University Athletics
COLLINS' CLUTCH FREE THROWS LEAD MEN'S BASKETBALL TO 52-51 WIN OVER PENN
12.8.04 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA - Junior point guard Mardy Collins deposited a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to propel Temple to a 52-51 victory over Penn in a hard-fought contest that featured 14 lead changes and 11 ties at the Liacouras Center Wednesday evening. In what can only be called "yet another Big 5 classic", the Owls held Quaker sharp-shooter Tim Begley to eight points on three-of-14 shooting, while Collins scored 20 points, to give the Owls their first home win of the season.
Collins, the only player to spend the entire 40 minutes on the hardwood, earned his trip to the charity stripe after being fouled on a driving lay-up. The Quakers had an opportunity for victory in one last frantic trip down the floor but a three-point attempt by guard Ibrahim Jaaber was off the mark to give Temple a 39-21 advantage in the series that dates back to 1896.
Apprehensive Temple fans that witnessed the Owls drop consecutive home heartbreakers to Auburn (80-78) and Arizona State (65-62) this season feared a repeat when sophomore Wayne Marshall missed the front end of a one-and-one with 43 seconds remaining and the home squad trailing 51-50. The Owl defense held strong, however, forcing Begley to miss his last shot of the evening with 10 seconds left and allowing Collins to set up the memorable finish.
Freshman Mark Tyndale joined Collins in double figures with the 13 points as Temple used its size advantage to out-score its city rival, 30-18 in the paint. The Owls shot 33.3 percent (19-57) from the field and made only two of 17 three-pointers.
Senior guard Eric Osmundson paced the Quakers in the scoring column with 20 points, the only Penn player to register double digits. The visitors tweaked the twine on 35.8 percent (19-53) of its attempts while connecting on nine of 24 shots from behind the arc.
Penn had a 49-44 advantage, one of four five-point second half leads for the visitors, after a Steve Danley slam dunk with 4:21 remaining. Collins, complemented by a Dion Dacons lay-up, scored four of the game's next eight points to reduce the deficit to one point, 51-50, after he made a pair of free throws with 1:52 on the clock.
The Owls largest lead after intermission was two points, occurring twice after a Tyndale jumper at 17:19 (31-29) and at 6:17 (44-42) courtesy of a Tyndale lay-up.
City series fans were treated to exciting up-and-down, blacktop-variety basketball in the game's first half. Temple trailed early before a Tyndale driving lay-up gave the home squad a 4-3 edge. The freshman was fouled on the play but failed to convert from the charity stripe to mark the first of three, three-point plays the Owls failed to complete in the opening stanza. Collins made his first of three, first half steals a minute later and dished to Tyndale to give TU a 6-5 edge to begin a back and forth first half that featured seven lead changes. Another Collins theft brought the crowd to its feet courtesy of an alley-oop, slam dunk pass to Salisbury who provided an 8-5 lead with 13:59 on the clock
Penn's Tim Begley scored his only points of the opening half on a 35-footer as the shot clock expired to knot the score at 8-8. Begley made just one of seven attempts from the field in the first half. The Quakers then proceeded to hit consecutive treys from the right corner baseline, by Odmundson and Friedrich Ebede, respectively, to take an 18-14 lead. A Collins steal and lay-up stopped the nine point run. A Tyndale running jumper in the lane after a pair of Dustin Salisbury free throws tied the score at 14 with 7:54 remaining before the break.
Marshall grabbed one of Temple's nine first half offensive rebounds and was fouled while connecting on an eight-foot jumper to give the Owls an 18-14 lead. The extra shot was off the mark and the Quakers scored the contest's next four points before a Marshall lay-up knotted the score at 20. The sophomore was fouled on the conversion, but once again failed to convert from the charity stripe.
The first half's final minutes provided more evenly-played, back-and-forth action, as Collins provided TU's last four points with a three-pointer and a free throw. The excitement on the floor, however, didn't translate into points on the scoreboard as the teams combined for just 48 points and a 24-24 tie at intermission. The Owls shot just 31.3 percent (10-32) in the first half, including one of nine (11.1 %) from behind the arc. The Quakers made only 34.8 percent (8-23) of their attempts from the field, while connecting on five of 12 (41.7 %) three-pointers.
Temple (3-3, 2-0 in Big 5 play) returns to the hardwood this Saturday at Southeastern Conference member Alabama in a 7:00 p.m. (EST) tip-off in Tuscaloosa. The game will be televised in the Philadelphia region on Comcast SportsNet via tape delay at 11:00 p.m. The contest will mark the second meeting between the Owls and Crimson Tide, with Alabama holding a 1-0 edge after defeating Temple 70-67 on December 18, 2001 at the Liacouras Center.
Penn falls to 4-3, 1-1 in Big 5 play.
