Temple University Athletics
FORDHAM FINALLY ENDS SKID AGAINST TEMPLE WITH 54-47 WIN
1.26.05 | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK - For the first time all season Temple was off its game and upstart Fordham was able to take advantage, posting its first win over the Owls since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference, 54-47, in front of a crowd of 2,600 at Rose Hill Gym. The loss was the first by a Temple team against Fordham since December 5, 1981 and broke a string of 20 straight Owl wins in the series.
Shooting or lack thereof, proved to be the Owls downfall. Temple made just one of 19 three-point attempts, and missed their final 16 of the contest. Free throw shooting was equally woeful as the Cherry and White converted on just four of 13 from the line, including two by All-America candidate Mardy Collins with 1:00 remaining that would have tied the game at 49. Instead, Fordham connected on five of six from the charity stripe over the final 60 seconds to close out the contest.
"Shooting," said Hall of Fame coach John Chaney.on the difference between this game and the first meeting. "That is one of the biggest problems -- teams feeding off of shooting. They feed off of scoring baskets. And when the ball is not going in basket they have no other way to win. That is what we have been spending a lot of time in trying to teach these guys"
Chaney credited second year coach Derek Whittenburg's squad on their play. The Owls had defeated the Rams, 67-42, two weeks earlier at the Liacouras Center, but Fordham has been a much different team at home. The Rams, traditionally cellar dwellers of the A-10 East Division, had already bested West powers Xavier and Richmond at home, and taken Saint Joseph's to the wire before falling 53-50.
"They played as well as I have ever seen a Fordham team play," stated Chaney. "They played great defense against our players. They out-rebounded us. They did extremely well. That is the beginning of a great team.
Fordham's man-to-man defense kept the Owls off-balance all night. It definitely contributed to Temple's poor shooting, especially in the first half when the Owls hit only 22.2 percent overall (6-27).
The game started off much the same as the first encounter with neither team being able to generate any offense. Then, with the score tied at eight with 14:06 to play, the Rams went on a 13-0 run to take a 21-8 lead. Temple finally ended its nine-minute and 30 second drought with a Keith Butler follow shot. The Owls had missed nine shots in the stretch and turned the ball over twice.
The half would close with Temple being held to just 15 points, its lowest output of the season. The Owls defense, however, kept them within reach as the deficit was only nine, 24-15, at intermission.
Jermaine Anderson, who led all scorers with 20 points, started off the second half with a three-pointer, one of four on the night for the Ram guard, to make it 27-15. The Owls answered with eight straight points, and looked poised to take control of the contest.
The young Fordham players, none of whom have been around the program long enough to know better, did not fold. The Rams would not only hold the lead, but run off seven straight points over a critical two-minute stretch to extend the margin back to double figures, 45-35, with 6:12 to play.
Chaney then abandoned his famed match-up zone to play man-to-man defense the remainder of the contest. The Owls closed the gap to three, 46-43 on a Mark Tyndale slam that capped an 8-1 run.
Jermane Anderson then got behind the Temple defense and converted a three-point play to make it 49-43 with 3:15 on the clock. Collins, who led Temple with 17 points on a career-high-tying 21 attempts (8 made), made it a four-point game with a lay-up. Dustin Salisbery made one of two free throws as did Wayne Marshall to make it 49-47 with 2:18 left.
Temple then had three possessions to tie or take the lead. First, Salisbery made a bad pass into the lane that resulted in a turnover. Then Collins missed his free throws. Following a Marcus Stoudt (13 points) free throw that made it 50-47, Mark Tyndale (3-15 FG, 6 points) drove to the basket and put up a forced shot with 25 seconds remaining.
Anderson and Stoudt hit their free throws to close out the game.
Temple, now 8-8 and 4-1 in Atlantic 10 play, travels to St. Bonaventure, another team that the Owls handled easily at home (71-47 on January 19), for a Saturday night tilt (7:00 p.m,). The Bonnies, however, took UMass to double overtime tonight at the Reilly Center before falling 82-78.
Fordham improves to 8-10, 4-3 in league play.
