Temple University Athletics
24 Men's Basketball Concludes MAC Road Swing With Akron Monday Night
11.25.07 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2007
AKRON, OH - Temple concludes its two-game Mid-American Conference road trip with a game at Akron Monday night (7:00 p.m./1210 AM WPHT). The Owls (2-3), winners of two straight, will be looking to even their record before returning to the Liacouras Center for their home opener Thursday against Ohio. Akron (3-1) has also posted two straight wins, most recently a 71-51 victory over Binghamton in its home opener on Saturday.
The Owls, under the direction of second-year head coach Fran Dunphy, are led by the one-two punch of Dionte Christmas and Mark Tyndale. The duo combined for 39 points to lift the Cherry and White to a 72-55 win over host Bowling Green Saturday. Christmas, who leads the team with a 19.6 scoring average, tallied a team-high 20 against the Falcons while Tyndale (16.4 ppg.) played his most complete game of the young season. He scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished a team-high six assists.
Freshman forward Lavoy Allen (7.8 ppg.), who leads the Owls in rebounding (5.8 rpg.), posted his second straight double figure scoring game with 10 points. Junior center Sergio Olmos tops the Owls in blocks (10) while sophomore Luis Guzman dished a career-high-tying four assists in his first collegiate start.
Akron, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Keith Dambrot, returns 10 letterwinners and three starters from last year's squad that won 26 games and the MAC East Division title. The Zips' top four scorers are seniors with forward Jeremiah Wood (15.3 ppg., 9.5 rpg.) leading the squad. Nick Dials (11.3 ppg.) and Quade Milum (10.3 ppg.) also average double figures in scoring.
The two teams have only met once on the hardwood, that being an 80-73 overtime win by Akron in the first round of the 2006 NIT at the Liacouras Center. That game was the last in Hall of Fame coach John Chaney's 24 years at Temple. Then top assistant coach Dan Leibovitz, now the head coach at Hartford, directed the team as Chaney was tending to his wife.
