Temple University Athletics
OWLS POST UGLY WIN OVER DUKES, 68-62
2.16.05 | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH, PA -- Temple rode the hot hand of All-America candidate Mardy Collins and small forward Antywane Robinson in winning an ugly game over Duquesne, 68-62, at the A.J. Palumbo Center Wednesday evening. It was so ugly in fact that Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, who has seen some ugly wins in his 23 years at the Owl helm, proposed a unique trade in the postgame media conference.
"I would trade my team right now for the Dukes," said Chaney, who was displeased with his team's effort, especially in guarding the perimeter.
Collins, who scored a season-high 29 points, tallied 14 first half points to help the Owls jump out on top early, and then hit five-of-six free throws over the final four minutes to seal the win. For the game he connected on 11 of 14 from the line, career highs for makes and attempts.
Robinson matched his career high with 15 points, scoring 11 in the second stanza. He also drained seven of 10 from the line, matching his career best for makes and establishing a new one for attempts. The 6-8 Charlotte, NC native also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career.
The Owls (12-10, 8-3) needed every one of Collins and Robinson's points as their second and third leading scorers for the season, Mark Tyndale and Dustin Salisbery combined for just nine points on two-of-16 shooting. Tyndale took himself out of the game early with two fouls in the first eight minutes while Salisbery (2-13 FGs) came off the bench due to lingering effects from a left ankle sprain suffered against St. Joe's on Saturday.
"We got an early lead and the second half they just shot the ball extremely well," said Collins. "We just had to get some stops on defense but we were not able to do that in the second half."
The Dukes (6-18, 3-8) scored the first basket of the game, but that was the only lead they would hold. Collins would then start to take over, tallying 12 of Temple's first 20 points to lift the Owls to a 20-11 lead at the 10-minute mark. He left for a five-minute stretch due to a stitch in his side and the Dukes would cut the margin to five (22-17) on a Bryant McAllister short jumper.
A 12-2 Temple run capped by a DaShone Kirkendoll three-pointer provided the Owls with what would be their largest lead of the contest, 33-19, with 1:47 to play in the half. The Dukes would cut it to 33-22 at intermission.
The second half DU caught fire. The Dukes hit 10-of-21 three-pointers with Chauncey Duke hitting four in the first seven minutes of the stanza to cut the margin to six (42-36). The 12 points was all Duke, who had hit just six treys on the season entering play, would score.
A mini-run capped by a Dion Dacons (career-high 8 rebounds) lay-up at the 9:30 mark brought the lead back over double figures, 52-41. The Owls would then hold off the Dukes at the free throw line, hitting 12 of 14 from the charity stripe before Robinson missed his final two attempts with nine seconds on the clock.
Jack Higgins, who hot six-of-13 from three-point range, led the Dukes with 19 points.
Temple, which leads the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.1 tpg.), had a season-low four miscues for the second straight game.
The Owls next play at Richmond Saturday evening (7:00 p.m.). The game will be televised live by Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia.
