Temple University Athletics
Owls Super On Sunday, Down Explorers, 89-64
2.4.07 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2007
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PHILADELPHIA - Behind a blistering 64.7 percent shooting performance in the first half, Temple (9-12, 3-5) captured its second win in as many games with an 89-64 Atlantic 10/Big 5 win over La Salle (9-14, 2-7) Sunday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. Junior guard Mark Tyndale led four Owls in double-figures in tallying 22 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double this season. Freshman guard Kimmani Barrett and Rodney Green each contributed 12 points for the Explorers, who have now lost three straight and five of their last six.
After a Liacouras Center-best 56 points in the first half, the Owls pushed their advantage to as much as 29 in the second stanza. Sophomore guard Dionte Christmas, ranked first among all Atlantic 10 scorers and 12th-nationally with 21.4 points per game coming into the contest, added 17 points on eight-for-15 shooting. Senior guard Dustin Salisbery collected 19 points on six-for-12 shooting, including five-for-seven from long-range.
First-year head coach Fran Dunphy, a standout player for La Salle from 1967-70, captured his 14th career win over his alma mater in the rivalries 100th contest. While more than 80 percent of his Owls' scoring came from his starting five, Dunphy received quality performances from reserves Ryan Brooks and Chris Clark.
Brooks, playing just 5.4 minutes per game in this his rookie season, scored a career-high 11 points on four-for-seven shooting, including three-for-four from long-range. Brooks' eight first half points were highlighted by two triples and a lay-in over just four minutes of action. Clark, sporting a 3.22 assist-to-turnover ratio heading into today's game, dished out five assists and went without committing a turnover for the seventh time this season.
As the Cherry and White finished the first half on a 33-11 run, on three consecutive possessions, Clark found Christmas for a triple, Christmas, again, for a fast break lay-in and then Tyndale for long jumper. After an Yves Mekongo Mbala lay-in cut the La Salle deficit to one with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Explorers couldn't do much to thwart the Owls' long-range shooting barrage that ensued.
Salisbery, connecting on all five of his triples in the half, was complimented by Tyndale (1-for-2, 3-pt. range), Christmas (1-for-2) and Brooks (2-for-2) as Temple took a 56-33 advantage into intermission.
While the Explorers would get as close as just 17 points in the second half, freshman guards Reuben Guillandeaux, Barrett and Green paced the visitors to an early four-point lead, their largest of the game, just under five minutes into the contest. However, for 30 minutes of the contest, it was the long-range attack and Tyndale's streaking offensive output that should be credited for Temple's improvement in the Atlantic 10 standings.
Guillandeaux, after scoring seven first half points on 3-for-4 shooting, finished with just nine. Senior guard Darnell Harris, having a history of burying the Owls with his long-range shooting capabilities and the Explorers most recent 1,000 point scorer, could only muster four points on a dismal two-for-seven shooting.
The Cherry and White will play their second of three straight on the Liacouras Center hardwood Wednesday night against Atlantic 10 opponent St. Bonaventure at 7:00 p.m.
