Temple University Athletics
Tyndale Lifts Temple To 58-55 Win Over Eastern Michigan
12.22.07 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - Senior co-captain Mark Tyndale drained a three-pointer with 1.2 seconds left to lift Temple to a hard-fought 58-55 win over visiting Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. Junior guard Dionte Christmas recorded his third career double-double, with game highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds. Temple improves to 6-5 overall and notched its 100th win in the Liacouras Center as the building is celebrating its 10th Anniversary season.
The game was close throughout the entire contest as each team looked to move their record above the .500 mark before the Christmas break. Initially the Owls looked like they were going to be able to break away as sophomore Ryan Brooks and Christmas connected on three-pointers to give the Cherry and White a 21-13 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
That short-lived advantage would prove to be the largest margin for either team in the game. Jarred Axon and Jesse Bunkley (15 points) made consecutive threes for the Eagles to quickly bring the game back to a one-possession contest. The spread would not surpass three points much the remainder of the game.
Leading 27-25 at the break, EMU matched its largest advantage when Carlos Medlock, who tallied a team-high 19 points, drained a three-pointer at the 15:30 mark to make it 35-31. Sophomore Luis Guzman made a lay-up off an assist by junior center Sergio Olmos and then Christmas made a trey to put the Owls back in front, 36-35.
"We were going to go with him," said Temple head coach Fran Dunphy on his decision to go to Tyndale for the final play. "He is a senior. He has earned the right of trying to make that last play for us.
They did a good job of trying to stop any penetration he was going to make. He had enough sense about him that to say 'I have to get a good shot off here.'I thought they did a good job defensively and he just rose up and made a big-time shot."
The lead, which changes hands nine times in the second half, went back and forth until Christmas went off a screen for his sixth three-pointer of the contest (10 attempts) to give TU a 50-46 lead. A Tyndale lay-up on the next possession pushed the margin to six (52-46) with 5:28 remaining,
The Eagles clawed their way back, tying the game with 13 seconds to play on a Medlock lay-up. That set up the final possession of the game.
Tyndale drove the ball up the court following a timeout, and calmly took a three-pointer from the top of the key for the game-winner.
"Coach told me, 'Mark go out there and try and make a play, look for your teammates if you are not open, and if you have the shot take it," said Tyndale. "Dionte told me that I was going to make the shot and I had the confidence that I would make it."
Tyndale joined Christmas as the only other Temple double-figure scorer with 10 points. Freshman Lavoy Allen added nine points.
It marked the sixth Temple game decided by four points or less. The Owls are 3-3 in those contests.
All told, there were eight ties and 15 lead changes over the 40 minutes.
Temple is off for the Holidays before returning to the court next Saturday when the Owls travel to the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL to take on two-time defending National Champion Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic (6:30 p.m./1210 AM WPHT). The game will be televised by Fox Sports South, and will not be carried by CN8 as originally reported.
