Temple University Athletics
Temple Travels To Fordham For Regular Season Finale Saturday
3.1.07 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2007
BRONX, NY - Temple will look to close out its 2006-07 regular season with a win at Fordham Saturday (1:00 p.m.). The Owls (12-16, 6-9 A-10) will also look to improve its seed heading into the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament which commences Wednesday, March 7 at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall. Temple is currently tied with Duquesne for 10th place in the conference standings. Saturday's game will be broadcast on WFIL 560 AM instead of The Big Talker, 1210 AM, due to a conflict with a Philadelphia Phillies broadcast.
Sophomore Dionte Christmas and junior Mark Tyndale currently rank one-two in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring. Christmas, who has struggled with his shooting touch (20-60, 33%) the past five games, leads the league with a 20.3 average. Tyndale, who is right behind Christmas (19.3 ppg.), continues to be the hottest player in the conference, averaging 24.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game over the same stretch. He also is shooting 63.8 percent (51-of-80) from the field over the five-game period.
Senior Dustin Salisbery ranks sixth in the A-10 in scoring with a 16.6 average while senior Dion Dacons leads the Owls and ranks 11th in the conference in rebounding with a 7.0 average. Sophomore center Sergio Olmos, who recently returned to the team's starting five, tops Temple in blocked shots with 25. Junior guard Chris Clark (2.7 ppg., 73 assists), sophomore guard Semaj Inge (4.7 ppg., 71 assists) and freshman forward Ryan Brooks (2.7 ppg.) give the team a lift off the bench.
Junior guard Marcus Stout (15.1 ppg., 69 three-pointers) and junior forward Bryant Dunston (14.3 ppg., 7.2 rpg.) have helped lead a balanced Fordham attack. The Rams, off to their best season in A-10 play, are 16-10 overall and 9-6 in league play. Winners of three straight, Fordham is 10-3 in the friendly confines of Rose Hill Gym and a win over the Owls will give the Rams their first season with 10 Atlantic 10 Conference wins.
Temple leads the series, 33-11, but Fordham has won the last two meetings. Prior to that, Temple had won 20 straight in the series and is 19-2 against Fordham since the Rams joined the A-10 in 1995.
