Temple University Athletics
MEN'S BASKETBALL SHOOTS DOWN DUQUESNE, 76-62
2.11.06 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA -- Temple returned to the friendly confines of the Liacouras Center Saturday and back to its winning ways, defeating visiting Duquesne, 76-52. Senior All-America candidate Mardy Collins led the way, scoring a game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. The Owls (13-9, 6-5 A-10) connected on a season-high 56.1 percent of its field goal attempts (32-57) in posting its ninth win in 10 home games. Duquesne fell to 3-19 and 1-10 in league play.
The Owls scored the first basket of the game, a tip-in by junior center Wayne Marshall (11 points) and never trailed afterwards. The Dukes stayed close for the first 10 minutes of the contest, trailing by just four points (15-11) following a three-point play by DeVario Hudson.
Sophomore Dionte Christmas drained two three-pointers on an 8-2 run to give the Owls a 10-point lead (23-13) with 6:44 left in the half. A 6-0 spurt fueled by two fast-break baskets by sophomore Mark Tyndale (12 points) brought the lead to 16 points, 36-20. Bryant McAllister, who led the Dukes with 18 points, and Chauncey Dixon made three-pointers in the closing minutes to make it 38-26 at intermission.
Temple had no second half letdown this time out. The Owls scored the first eight points after the break, four by Marshall and a three-pointer by Collins, to push the margin to 20 points (46-26) by the first media timeout. A 11-4 Dukes run that included two three-pointers by McAllister, the A-10's leading scorer (19.4 ppg.) closed the gap to 13 points, 50-37, with 12:50 remaining.
Hall of Fame coach John Chaney called a timeout at this point to settle his team down. The Owls then ran off 11 unanswered points, including eight straight by Collins, to make it 61-37. Duquense never closed within 19 the remainder of the game.
Collins has been on fire for the Owls of late, leading the team in scoring in each of the last eight games. He passed former teammate David Hawkins (259, 2000-04) on the Temple all-time steals list and now stands in fourth place. His 1,752 points rank him sixth on the school's all-time scoring list, just 15 points behind the legendary Guy Rodgers (1,767, 1955-58).
Collins and his teammates will look to continue their home court success when the team hosts Saint Joseph's Tuesday night. The Owls, who have won their last five home games, will be looking to break a seven-game losing skid to the Hawks. Tickets are still available for the nationally-televised (espn2) game which tips off at 7:30 p.m.
