Temple University Athletics
Brooks Helps Owls Fend Off Dragons, 64-51
12.15.07 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Ryan Brooks scored eight of his 10 points in the final six minutes of play to help Temple put away city-rival Drexel, 64-51, on Saturday afternoon at The Palestra. Coming off a career-high 22 points on Sunday against Villanova, Brooks made a pair of three-pointers during a 14-4 run that sealed the victory. Junior Dionte Christmas led the Owls with 17 points.
Drexel cut the Temple lead to 50-47 on a layup by Frank Elegar (18 points) with 6:01 remaining. Brooks then hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions and later added a lay-up as part of a 14-4 run to put the game away.
Playing well late in games has been the story for Brooks all season. He scored 13 points in the second half against Villanova and hit three big threes down the stretch against Ohio. Brooks is now averaging 9.8 points per game, good for third on the team.
"Ryan Brooks is a big-time player," said senior co-captain Mark Tyndale. "Coach called him Kobe one time at pratice. I just told him that he has been making some big shots like Kobe down the stretch."
Junior Sergio Olmos was a factor on both ends of the court. He finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and held Elegar without a field goal in the first half.
"If we were giving out a game ball we would it to Serge," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy. "He was tremendous. He did a great job defensively. He stepped up and made a couple of shots on the offensive end. He made two big foul shots at a very important part of the game. The key for us was Sergio Olmos today.""
His play was especially needed with freshman Lavoy Allen in foul trouble. The rookie played a season-low 10 minutes after picking up three first half fouls and snapped his string of double-figure scoring games at six with just two points.
Tyndale played a strong floor game, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists (one turnover), and four steals. He was just one assist shy of tying a career-high.
TU held a 27-17 after a Tyndale slam with 8:04 to play before halftime, but the Dragons finished the half on a 14-3 run to take a 31-30 advantage into the locker rooms. Ironically, it was the same score as last season's matchup at the break.
The Owls were held without a point for seven-and-a-half minutes during that stretch until Chris Clark drained a three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining in the period.
"I think we zone out sometimes," explained Dunphy on the scoreless stretch. "Our offense led to their scores. We stunk on offense and that led to easy baskets a number of times. We just need to do a better job of focusing."
Drexel cleaned the glass as Elegar (12 rebounds) and sophomore Evan Neisler (11 rebounds) combined for almost as many as Temple (29). The Dragons held a 40-29 advantage on the boards and limited the Owls to just five offensive rebounds.
The Owls have now won five of their last seven games to even their record at 5-5. Drexel has dropped four straight and falls to 5-5.
Temple holds a 27-9 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in 26 of the last 28 meetings. One of those Dragon wins was last season at the Liacouras Center when the visitors beat Temple, 69-54, to improve to 8-2.
The Cherry and White hosts Eastern Michigan (4-4) on Saturday, December 22 at the Liacouras Center. Tip-off is set for 1:00 PM and the game will be streamed live via OwlAccess.
