Temple University Athletics
SAINT JOSEPH'S DOWNS TEMPLE, 63-56, IN A-10 AND BIG 5 CLASH
2.22.05 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA -- In an ugly contest that featured two technical fouls and as nearly as many personal fouls as field goals, Saint Joseph's downed Temple, 63-56, on Tuesday night at the Liacouras Center. The loss was the first for the Owls in City Series play (2-1) and eliminated any chance of an outright Big 5 championship. The Cherry and White can earn a share of the title by defeating La Salle on March 5.
After a junior Mardy Collins (team-high 13 points) layup with 16:16 to go cut the Hawk lead to 35-31, head coach John Chaney was hit with a technical foul for arguing with the officials. That ignited an ugly four minutes of play that included five fouls (including a technical) alone from senior Nehemiah Ingram. Chaney was unhappy with the referees' failure to call, in his mind, the illegal screens set by St. Joe's and sent in Ingram to send a message.
The immediate return on his strategy was not evident, as Saint Joseph's (15-9, 12-1 A-10, 2-2 Big 5) went on a 15-4 run to open up what was a close ballgame. Despite the lack of instant results, Chaney hopes the move may pay dividends for Temple (13-11, 9-4 A-10, 2-1 Big 5) in the long run, as an Atlantic 10 Tournament run is the only way to secure an NCAA bid.
SJU's 50-34 lead with 7:56 to play was the largest of the game. The Owls chipped away for the rest of the contest and 10 points in the final 90 seconds made the score appear closer than it really was.
After being urged by his players to switch to a man-to-man defense after being torched by the Hawks perimeter shooters 10 days ago, John Chaney began the game in man for the first time in recent memory. The move was made in an effort to limit touches on Saint Joseph's three-point threats of Pat Carroll and Chet Stachitas. Chaney ran a number of different defenders at Carroll, including Collins, sophomore Dion Dacons, junior Antywane Robinson and freshman Mark Tyndale.
The pair did not get off as many shots as they are accustomed to, but effectively ran off screens to find a handful of open looks. Those looks found the bottom of the net more often than not in the first half, as Carroll (eight points) and Stachitas (seven points) combined to shoot 6-for-10 in the half.
Stachitas finished with a game-high 19 points, while Carroll was the only other Hawk in double-figures with 14. Junior point guard Dwayne Lee continued his solid point guard play with nine assists against one turnover. He has now dished 20 helpers against only two turnovers in two games against the Owls.
Temple opened the game by going straight into the post. Junior center Keith Butler and sophomore Wayne Marshall combined to score 13 of the team's first 18 points on a series of hook shots and low post moves. Neither could get as many openings in the second half, but both finished in double-figures for the night, as Marshall ended with 11 points and Butler added 10.
After Collins went to the bench with his second foul at the 5:07 mark of the first half, the Owl offense sputtered. Temple was held without a field goal for over four minutes and watched St. Joe's take a 30-21 lead with a minute to play. A sophomore Dustin Salisbery three-pointer with 42 second to play provided the halftime score of 30-24.
Despite struggling from the field (34.5%), Temple shot 46.7% from behind the arc and 78.6% from the charity stripe.
The win clinched a tie for the Atlantic 10 East regular season title for Saint Joseph's. It is the fifth straight year the Hawks will take the top spot in the East, a streak only matched by Massachusetts from 1991-96.
