Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL FINISHES STRONG IN 74-60 WIN AGAINST FORDHAM
2.29.04 | Men's Basketball
Sophomore Mardy Collins paced the Owls with 17 points and four assists, marking just the third time this season that All-America candidate David Hawkins did not lead Temple in scoring. Hawkins, who needs just 40 points to become the third Owl to eclipse the 2,000-point mark for his career, scored 16 points and added six rebounds. Dustin Salisbery had 15 points and Tyreek Byard chipped in with 12 points off the bench. Byard, who averaged 1.9 points per contest during his first 19 outings, has now scored in double-figures in each of the last four games.
Chaney inserted forward Michael Blackshear into the starting line-up, trying his ninth different combination of the season. Blackshear, who had not started since the season-opener, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his fifth double-figure game on the glass this season. The first-year Owl helped Temple to a 41-28 rebounding advantage for the contest.
Derrick Breland went six-for-eight on three-point field goals to lead all scorers with 20 points. Michael Haynes pitched in 17 points and Mark Jarrell-Wright added 13 for the Rams. Fordham's reserves were outscored 28-3 by Temple's bench.
With the Owls facing a 38-35 deficit more than four minutes into the second stanza, Hawkins hit a pair of free throws and Collins finished a killer crossover by delivering a one-handed dunk through traffic to incite a 14-3 Temple run. Dominic Osei ended the spurt with a three-pointer, but Temple responded with a Byard three-pointer to build a 54-44 lead with 10:12 to play.
From there, the Cherry & White continued on the torrid pace that resulted in a 20-point swing in just more than 13 minutes. Fordham managed to cut the lead to 59-52 on a Mushon Ya-Akosi lay-up with 6:10 remaining, but Hawkins responded with an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Owls ahead by double-digits for the rest of the afternoon. After Byard hit another three, Hawkins added a pair of free throws to put Temple up 67-52 with 3:54 on the clock.
Temple scored 19 second-half points off of Fordham's eight turnovers. The Owls, held to just 27.8 percent (10-36) from the floor in the first half, converted on 53.6 percent (15-28) of their second-half shot attempts.
Breland gave Fordham a 3-0 advantage off the bat and connected on his first three attempts from three-point range to lead the Rams to an early 17-7 lead. In falling behind by double-digits, the Owls hit just three of their first 15 shots before Collins broke the skid with a two-handed dunk. That ignited a run of 11 unanswered points for the Owls. The Cherry & White defense held Fordham scoreless for a span of nearly six minutes as Temple grabbed an 18-17 lead -- its only advantage of the first half.
Fordham responded with a 10-2 spurt before Collins hit back-to-back threes as the Owls went to the locker room at halftime facing a 27-26 deficit.
The Owls have two home games this week before heading to Dayton for the Atlantic 10 Championships. Temple hosts Massachusetts at 8:00 pm on Wednesday, March 3. The game will be televised on CN8. The Cherry & White wraps up its regular season on Saturday, March 6 against Xavier at 3:00 pm as Hawkins will be honored on Senior Day.
