Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL TURNS ON THE OFFENSE IN AN 83-66 WIN OVER ST. BONAVENTURE
1.11.06 | Men's Basketball
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY -- Mark Tyndale led a Temple offensive explosion Wednesday night at the Reilly Center. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 26 points and spearheaded an aggressive defense with a career-high five steals in lifting the Owls to an 83-66 win over the Bonnies. The win was Temple's first in Atlantic 10 Conference play (7-6, 1-2) and snapped a three-game losing streak. St. Bonaventure fell to 6-8 and 0-3.
"I just went out there and tried to play hard, get some easy buckets on the other end and some transition baskets," said Tyndale, who had four dunks in the contest, three coming directly off his steals at midcourt.
It was a total team effort in handing the Bonnies their first home loss of the season. In all, five players scored in double figures with Mardy Collins (17 points), Antywane Robinson (14), Dustin Salisbery (10) and Wayne Marshall (10) joining Tyndale in lifting the Owls to a season high for points.
The Owls were hot right out of the gate, hitting five of their first six shots to put Temple ahead 11-4 in the first three minutes. Following a timeout by SBU coach Anthony Solomon, the Bonnies began to keep pace, and trailed by just six, 27-21, at the midway point of the period.
Temple exploded for a 16-2 run on the strength of four three-point baskets, taking a 43-23 lead at the 5:34 mark. Robinson nailed two of his four treys in that stretch and scored all of his points in the first stanza. Temple would close out the half with a season-best 50 points on 51.4 percent (19-37) shooting from the field and a commanding 17-point lead (50-33).
"It is very important (to shoot well)," said Hall of Fame coach John Chaney. "We are not good shooters. We have had moments where we have just not shot the ball well this year. When we shoot the ball well we become a very formidable team."
The game was put away quickly in the opening minutes of the second half with the Owls starting the frame on a 12-3 run to take their biggest lead, 62-36, of the contest. Tyndale, who shot 10-of-15 from the floor (2-3 3PT), capped the run with a three-pointer with 16:21 remaining. Dion Dacons made two of his career-high tying four steals over the three-minute spurt to key the defense that forced four Bonnie turnovers.
"We read the passing lanes very well and that is how we got some easy buckets on the other end," said Tyndale on the defensive effort that accounted for 15 steals.
The Bonnies never cut the lead under double digits the rest of the way, but made it interesting with a 7-0 run to make it 68-55 with nine minutes to play. Marshall, who had been a force inside with six offensive rebounds, became the first Owl to foul out this season during the run.
After the teams traded baskets, the Owls steadied themselves, running off six unanswered points and coasting to victory.
Freshman walk-on Brian Shanahan scored his first collegiate point with a foul shot to account for the team's final point.
Temple extended its streak of winning when out-shooting its opponent to 47 games. The Owls shot a sizzling 49.2 percent for the game (31-63) and an even more impressive 52.9 percent (9-17) from long range. That countered another dismal performance from the foul line (12-22, 54.5%).
Next up for Temple is La Salle on Saturday at the Liacouras Center. The Explorers were handed their first conference loss of the season by Charlotte tonight. Tip-off is scheduled for noon.
