Temple University Athletics
Men's Basketball Falls Short At Akron In A 67-65 Loss
11.26.07 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2007
AKRON, OH - Temple went on a 16-5 run over the final four minutes, but the Owls comeback ended when Mark Tyndale's desperation putback on his intentionally missed free throw fell short in a 67-65 loss at Akron Monday night. Dionte Christmas led a balanced Temple attack with 17 points while Cedrick Middleton (17 points) topped the Zips (4-1), who have now won 12 straight and 33 of their last 34 at Rhodes Arena.
After opening the game by hitting their first four shots to take an 11-4 lead by the first media timeout, the Owls offense started to sputter before coming to a grinding halt over the final nine minutes of the half against a pressure man defense by Akron. Temple went without a field goal following a Luis Guzman layup at the 9:25 mark, and would only score two points over that stretch, both coming on Ryan Brooks free throws with 47 seconds on the clock. That ended a 16-0 Zip run that gave the hosts a 32-24 advantage heading into the locker room.
Senior guard Nick Dials provided the spark in the first half for Akron. He scored 10 of his 16 points in the frame, and his four-point play at the 3:30 mark gave the Zips the lead (26-22) for good. Middleton was also deadly from the perimeter, making five of seven from behind the arc. As a team, Akron made nine threes, while the Owls made just three-of-18 from long range.
Temple missed its final 11 shots of the half, with Christmas missing four threes in the stretch. The Owls continued to struggle to find their rhythm on offense in the second half. Senior co-captain Mark Tyndale was called for three offensive charges in the first five minutes of the period. The Atlantic 10 leader in minutes per game (37.2 mpg.) entering the night, he played a season low 20 minutes and contributed just three points (1-5 from the field).
Despite Tyndale's absence, the Cherry and White stayed within striking distance due to strong inside play of junior center Sergio Olmos and freshman forward Lavoy Allen. Olmos matched his career-high with 11 points on five-of-six shooting while blocking two shots. Allen made four-of-six from the field for 12 points, his third straight double figure scoring game, while tying Christmas for team honors in rebounds with eight.
Akron started to pull away midway through the second half, courtesy of a 7-0 run that gave the Zips their biggest lead, 56-43, with 7:00 remaining following a Middleton three-pointer. The teams traded baskets until the Owls started their run at the four-minute mark.
Guzman, who finished with a career-high 11 points, made two free throws and Christmas, who was 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, added two more to get the deficit under double digits. Brooks then added a jumped and Christmas converted two more at the line to make it 62-57 with 2:11 on the clock.
Jeremiah Wood made one from the line for Akron before Allen received a nice dish in the lane from Christmas, one of his five assists, and laid it in to cut the margin to four points (63-59). Akron's Steve McNees missed two free throws, but Mike Bardo was able to track down the rebound for the Zips. Middleton then drained two free throws to make it 65-59 with 47 seconds remaining.
Guzman followed with a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 0:27 on the clock. Jimmy Conyers made two free throws to extend the margin to 67-62 with 14 seconds to play. Guzman then made a putback with 6.2 seconds and immediately fouled Middleton on the ensuing inbounds play.
Middleton, who had been red hot all night, missed both free throws with Tyndale grabbing the rebound and quickly bringing the ball up the court. McNees smartly fouled him with 2.9 seconds left sending him to the line with the score, 67-64.
Tyndale made the first and then intentionally missed the second. The rebound got loose on the left baseline with Tyndale grabbing the loose ball and launching a shot while falling out of bounds. It was short as time expired.
Temple (2-4) next hosts Ohio Thursday in its home opener (7:00 p.m.). It will be broadcast live by The BigTalker, 1210 WPHT AM and can be seen on OwlAcces on a live free webcast.
